Revealed: UK solar homes share most of their electricity 

Data from Good Energy shows for the first time that on average, domestic scale solar generators share more of the power they generate with the grid than they use themselves 

New data from renewable energy company Good Energy shows that the average UK home with solar panels on its roof shares the majority of electricity it generates back to the grid. The first of its kind finding is based on smart meter readings from more than 900 domestic solar customers over more than 12 months, with a mix of install sizes and geographic locations. It shows an average of 60% percent of the electricity generated is exported or shared to the grid for others to use. 

Houses with solar have been paid for the electricity they generate since 2004 when Good Energy created its HomeGen scheme, which became the blueprint for the government’s Feed-In Tariff (FIT), launched in 2010. Homes’ total generation figures have been available throughout this time via manual meter readings, but robust data on the electricity exported is only available now thanks to Good Energy’s roll-out of smart export metering, which the company has now introduced for over 70,000 customers.  

The FIT scheme offers a 50% export payment for non-smart metered generators, regardless of how much a solar household shares back with the grid or uses itself. This figure was set when FIT originally launched, and was based on an assumption about how much power these microgenerators would use. The FiT closed to new registrants in 2019 to be replaced by the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), but is still by far the largest scheme under which small scale solar generators can be paid for their power.  

There are over 870,000 FIT accredited generators in the UK with a total capacity of just under 6.5GW — about double the planned capacity of Hinkley Point C — and Good Energy has more than 20% market share. The company continues to invest in providing new services for these generators. This includes smart export, under which the new data shows a typical solar household will earn more as they receive payment for their actual export, likely to be more than the 50% deemed amount. The majority (80%) of FIT export payments in Ofgem’s most recent report was at this deemed 50%, meaning most FIT generators will now be better off by switching to smart export Good Energy.  

Nigel Pocklington, chief executive officer, Good Energy, said: “We think small scale solar’s contribution to cutting the country’s carbon has long been undervalued. There is a bias towards thinking only ‘big’ is beautiful in energy, and a lack of data from microgenerators hasn’t helped. But we’re looking to change that.  

“Supporting people to generate their own clean power has been part of the Good Energy mission for more than 20 years. The big suppliers had to be mandated to offer the Feed-In Tariff and now the Smart Export Guarantee. We’re the biggest voluntary FIT administrator and are driving innovation in smart export because it’s our core business and we see the value microgeneration has in combatting climate change, not because the government or regulator says we have to.” 

Good Energy also offers a standalone smart export tariff for Feed-In Tariff and non-Feed-In Tariff accredited microgenerators alike, Solar Savings, which pays 15p per kilowatt hour for exported power or 20p for customers who install their solar through Good Energy.  

Trevor Sweetnam, head of R&D, Good Energy, says: “When the FIT scheme was implemented it is possible that the average micro generator did export around 50% of their generation. Average install capacity has increased since then thanks to technology improvements, which means the typical home is generating more and subsequently exporting more. But our new findings now provide robust data on this for the first time.  

“We also advise customers that they are generally better off using what they can of what they generate themselves. The cleanest kilowatt hour is used as locally to where it’s generated as possible, and unit rates are structured to reflect this with the amount you’ll pay to import from your supplier being more than what you’ll be paid to export what you generate.” 

ENDS 

Media contacts  

Good Energy  

Ian McKee / Rhiannon Barriball

Call 07718 671003 or email press@goodenergy.co.uk   

About Good Energy www.goodenergy.co.uk   

Good Energy is a supplier of 100% renewable power and an innovator in energy services. It has long-term power purchase agreements with a community of more than 2,000 independent UK generators, is the UK’s largest voluntary administrator of the Feed-In Tariff scheme and offers solar and heat pump installations.      

  Since it was founded almost 25 years ago, the company has been at the forefront of the charge towards a cleaner, distributed energy system. Its mission is to power a cleaner, greener world and make it simple to generate, share, store, use and travel by clean power.