How does the Feed-in Tariff work?
The Feed-in Tariff pays eligible owners for electricity their installation generates. A separate export payment covers electricity sent to the grid, either measured or estimated under the scheme. You can therefore receive generation payments for power you use at home as well as power you export. [2]
The scheme closed to new applicants on 1 April 2019. That closure did not cancel existing entitlements. New solar owners should look at the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), not apply for a new FIT contract. This guide covers Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales. [6]
Your FIT licensee is the company administering these payments. It can be different from the supplier selling you electricity. Start with your FIT statement: the generation rate, export basis and registered end date matter more than the name on your electricity bill. [2]
What are the Feed-in Tariff rates for 2026-27?
There is no single current solar FIT generation rate. Your registered eligibility date (or tariff date), technology and capacity and, for solar from April 2012, whether you qualified for the higher, middle or lower tariff decide which row applies. Ofgem's current table covers 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027; its relevant rates rose by 3.4 per cent using CPI. Older guidance referring to RPI is not the basis for this year's table. [1]
| PV export cohort in the workbook | Export rate | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| April 2010 to 31 July 2012 | 5.43p/kWh | Match your registered tariff details with your FIT licensee. |
| On or after 1 August 2012 | 7.64p/kWh | Use this only if it is your applicable export cohort. |
For a generation-rate example, the workbook gives 24.46p/kWh for a 4 kW solar installation with an eligibility date of 12 July 2013 in the higher tariff band. The retrofit row covers eligibility dates from 1 July to 30 September 2013. It is an example, not a rate every 4 kW system receives. [1]
Open the official table and identify your technology, capacity, eligibility-date window and tariff band. If a statement does not match the row you expect, ask your FIT licensee to confirm the registered details before assuming the statement is wrong.
How are FIT payments calculated?
Illustrative annual generation of 4,000 kWh at that 24.46p rate gives £978.40 in generation payments: 4,000 × £0.2446. If that installation also qualifies for deemed export at 50 per cent and the 7.64p export rate, its export payment is £152.80: 4,000 × 50% × £0.0764. Total scheme payments would be £1,131.20, before any separate bill saving from using solar electricity. Generation is an assumption here, not a forecast for your roof. [1] [8]
How long does the Feed-in Tariff last?
For solar PV, the change from a 25-year to a 20-year tariff lifetime applied to new installations and extensions with an eligibility date on or after 1 August 2012. Earlier qualifying PV installations generally had 25 years. Do not decide the expiry date from the year someone says the panels were fitted. [5]
Your licensee can confirm the registered eligibility date and end date. Home solar (a micro-generator) that moved over from the Renewables Obligation has fixed end dates. If it was commissioned before 15 July 2009, FIT payments end on 31 March 2027. If it was commissioned from 15 July 2009 to 31 March 2010, they end on 31 March 2035. Check your own record. Replacing equipment does not start a fresh 20- or 25-year entitlement. [3] [2]
Deemed export, metered export and smart meters
Deemed export estimates the exported share rather than paying on an export-meter reading. For solar PV of 30 kW or less whose export is not measured by an export meter, the government's determination for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 sets it at 50 per cent of the generation meter reading. It does not mean half of your electricity physically leaves the house. [8]
Metered export uses actual eligible export readings. For installations of 30 kW or less, Ofgem's supplier guidance says export cannot remain deemed once an export meter has been commissioned to measure the installation's export. A working smart-meter export register can therefore change the payment basis; merely saying "I have a smart meter" does not settle whether that meter has been commissioned for the FIT arrangement. [3]
There is an important storage exception. Where a co-located battery means the smart meter cannot separately identify FIT-eligible export, deemed export may continue under Ofgem's rules. Confirm the arrangement with your licensee; do not assume either that every smart meter ends deemed export or that a battery guarantees it will continue. [3]
Exporting less than 50 per cent can favour deemed payments. Exporting more can favour a metered arrangement, but the rate also matters. Check the maths before changing the payment basis.
FIT versus SEG: should you switch export payments?
You can keep eligible FIT generation payments while opting out of FIT export and receiving SEG export payments. You cannot receive FIT export payments, metered or deemed, and SEG for the same installation: you opt out of FIT export first. [2] SEG pays on export meter readings, not a deemed 50 per cent share. [9]
Work through these checks in order:
| Check | If this is your situation | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Which payment? | You are comparing export income, not ending generation entitlement. | Ask for generation and export to be identified separately. |
| 2. Which export basis? | Your FIT export is deemed. | Compare annual deemed income with actual eligible exported kWh at the proposed SEG rate. |
| 3. Already metered? | Your FIT export already uses actual readings. | Compare rates on the same export volume, then import charges and eligibility conditions. |
| 4. When can you change? | You want to opt out of, or return to, FIT export. | Confirm the permitted election date. The first anniversary and 12-month rules apply. |
| 5. Whole bill and hardware | The SEG offer changes your import tariff or requires specific equipment. | Include those conditions, standing charges and battery losses before deciding. |
You cannot opt in or out of FIT export before the first anniversary of joining the scheme. Afterwards, you cannot change that export election more than once every 12 months. The scheme rules allow a later return to FIT export, but some SEG tariffs exclude it: Octopus Energy's Intelligent Octopus Flux terms say you cannot revert to your previous export terms. Read the SEG tariff's terms before you opt out. [2] [10] Confirm when you could return and whether the metering arrangement would permit deemed export. The licensee needs to confirm your particular position. [2]
A worked comparison: a higher export rate can pay less
Assume 4,000 kWh annual generation, qualifying deemed export at 50 per cent, and a FIT export rate of 7.64p/kWh. FIT export pays £152.80 a year. For comparison, assume a SEG offer of 12p/kWh: this is an illustrative offer, not a claim about the best available tariff.
| Actual annual export | FIT deemed export at 7.64p | SEG at assumed 12p | SEG minus FIT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 kWh | £152.80 | £120.00 | -£32.80 |
| 1,500 kWh | £152.80 | £180.00 | +£27.20 |
| 2,500 kWh | £152.80 | £300.00 | +£147.20 |
The export-only break-even point is about 1,274 kWh a year: £152.80 ÷ £0.12, rounded up to a whole kWh. With the older 5.43p FIT export rate, deemed income in the same example is £108.60 and break-even is 905 kWh. Different rates produce different thresholds; no single export share settles it, because the threshold moves with both rates. As a share of generation, the break-even is 50% x FIT export rate / SEG rate. At 7.64p and 12p, that is about 32 per cent of generation. At 7.3p, Ofgem's average untied SEG rate paid in 2024-25, SEG pays more only above about 52 per cent. [11] [1]
Keeping more solar electricity at home, including through a battery, can reduce metered export. That may be worthwhile for your bill but changes this export comparison. Compare the export tariff's import conditions and total-bill trade-offs before choosing.
Adding a battery, replacing an inverter or adding panels
Adding a battery to a FIT system
A battery does not automatically cancel FIT or deemed export. The key is that the generation meter still records only eligible FIT generation. Grid-charged electricity must not be counted as solar generation for a FIT payment. The permitted arrangement depends on the wiring and meters, not simply the battery's brand. If the battery sits before the generation meter and can charge from the grid, generation payments stop unless a single bi-directional meter can show net solar generation (most smart meters cannot), and deemed export, which is worked out from the generation reading, stops with them. [4]
Report the battery to your FIT licensee. Ofgem lists what it needs. That means an updated single line or schematic diagram showing how the battery is fed and metered, and whether it can charge from the grid. It also means the meter readings used for FIT, the battery's details and the date it was installed and started working, with evidence. For an MCS-FIT installation, add Ofgem's battery declaration forms. A bi-directional meter needs its own details, such as make, model and MID certificate. [2] Ask the licensee before the work what it will need and whether it sees a problem with the planned layout. Ofgem gives no advance approval: it assesses a change once it has been made and notified. [4]
The guide to adding a battery to existing solar explains AC and DC coupling. Do not treat either label as proof that a particular layout meets FIT rules.
Replacing an inverter
Ofgem permits repair or replacement of generating equipment while an installation continues to meet the scheme's conditions, including the same technology and not being decommissioned or relocated. An inverter is part of that equipment. A like-for-like replacement keeps your accreditation while the installation still meets the scheme rules. Replacing older equipment with newer kit that has a greater capacity or more efficiency, which results in a net increase of power generated, is what Ofgem calls repowering: the extension rules then apply and the extra output earns no FIT. Check with your licensee before you buy. [2]
Give the licensee the old and proposed inverter models and ratings, any change in panel capacity, and the wiring or metering changes. Our inverter replacement guide covers the service and quote checks.
Adding panels or changing capacity
Tell the licensee if the total installed capacity changes. Extensions commissioned on or after 15 January 2016 are not eligible for FIT generation or FIT export payments. If the new panels share the meters, readings must be split by installed capacity and only the original share is paid: Ofgem's example is a 40 kW system extended by 10 kW, paid on 80 per cent of what the meters record. The added panels earn no FIT. [2]
Finding or changing your FIT provider, and moving home
To find your FIT provider, check the company on your generation-payment statement, FIT contract or payment correspondence. Your import supplier is not necessarily the FIT licensee. If you cannot identify it, Ofgem's FIT generators page links to contact details for every FIT licensee. [6]
You can change FIT licensee without automatically changing the underlying registered tariff entitlement. Ask the new FIT licensee to switch you. It arranges the transfer with your current licensee, you give up-to-date meter readings (the closing and opening reads should match), and you agree a new statement of FIT terms before payments start. Changing your import electricity supplier alone is not a FIT transfer. [2]
If you buy a home with an MCS-FIT installation (the usual type for home solar), tell its FIT licensee about the change of owner as soon as reasonably possible and get the installation records from the seller. For a ROO-FIT installation, Ofgem's register is updated first. Check who owns the panels and payment rights: roof-lease arrangements can be different. Moving house does not move the old installation's entitlement onto panels at your new address. [2]
Are Feed-in Tariff payments taxable?
HMRC provides an Income Tax exemption for an individual's domestic microgeneration income where the system is at or near a home they occupy and intended generation does not significantly exceed that home's consumption. It is not a blanket exemption for every solar business or property arrangement. Check the conditions in HMRC's domestic microgeneration guidance if your circumstances differ. [7]
Template: what to ask your FIT licensee
Use this before committing to a battery, inverter change or export switch. Attach the installer's proposed specifications and wiring diagram where relevant. Delete questions that do not apply.
Subject: Please confirm my FIT entitlement before a proposed change
FIT account/reference: [reference]
Installation address: [address]
I am considering [a battery / an inverter replacement / additional panels / changing export payments]. Please confirm:
1. My registered eligibility date, capacity, generation tariff band and entitlement end date.
2. My current generation and export rates, and whether export is deemed or metered.
3. What drawings, meter details, readings and equipment specifications you need for the proposed change.
4. Whether the proposed arrangement continues to meet FIT metering requirements, including any grid-charging battery.
5. If I opt out of FIT export, the earliest permitted date, how generation payments continue, and the conditions and earliest date for returning to FIT export.
6. Whether the proposed meter or storage arrangement changes eligibility for deemed export.
Please tell me in writing what you need from me, and anything you can confirm now, before the work or export switch goes ahead.
[Name]
[Date]
The next step is confirmation from your FIT licensee. An installer can explain the equipment, but should not promise a particular entitlement without the registered arrangement being checked.
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Sources
- Ofgem: FIT tariff table from 1 April 2026. Published 23 March 2026; workbook covers 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027; read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.
- Ofgem: guidance for FIT generators. Content version 19, 1 April 2026; URL filename retains V18; read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.
- Ofgem: guidance for licensed electricity suppliers. Content version 18, 1 April 2026; URL filename retains V17.3; read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.
- Ofgem: co-location guidance for generators. Version 6.2, 23 May 2025; read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.
- Ofgem: FIT annual report 2011-12. Historical report used only for the August 2012 duration rule; read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.
- Ofgem: information for FIT generators. Live scheme information; current 2026 rate/guidance documents take precedence on indexation; read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.
- HMRC: Income Tax exemption for domestic microgeneration. BIM40520; manual updated 4 August 2026; read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.
- DESNZ: Feed-in Tariffs determinations, year 17. Determinations for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, Article 37; read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.
- Ofgem: Smart Export Guarantee. Live regulator page; read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.
- Octopus Energy: smart tariff terms, Intelligent Octopus Flux. Supplier terms, Intelligent Octopus Flux section (supplier page); read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.
- Ofgem: Smart Export Guarantee annual report, April 2024 to March 2025. Year 5 report, paragraph 4.9; read 14 October 2026. Back to the relevant section.