Getting paid for your surplus solar

The Clean Export Guarantee, or CEG, provides for payment for qualifying renewable electricity exported to the grid. Your electricity supplier pays you, not ESB Networks. It is not a fixed grant or a promise of a particular income.

Get the registration right

The appropriate NC6 notification or NC7 application must be processed by ESB Networks. It records the connection and informs your supplier. Confirm that your export capacity is registered; an installed system on its own is not enough.

If you are unsure what was submitted, ask the installer for the record. Our grid connection guide explains the distinction between notification and application.

How the exported amount is measured

If you are eligible for a smart meter, you need one for export payment. ESB Networks says eligible customers are not paid during the wait for its installation. Declining an available smart meter does not entitle you to deemed export payments.

If you are not eligible for a smart meter at this stage of the rollout, payment may use a deemed export calculation instead. This is an estimate under the applicable rules, not a reading from your solar app. Check your meter’s position with ESB Networks.

Your supplier’s statement should identify the payment period, exported units and rate. If the figures do not match what you expected, ask which quantities were used. ESB Networks can also supply deemed quantities where smart meter data could not be read, so a difference needs checking rather than assuming an error.

Export income is not the same as a bill saving

Electricity used in the home can avoid a grid purchase. Electricity exported earns the supplier’s export rate. Those are separate values and should appear separately in a proposal. Check the supplier’s current terms rather than relying on an old online rate.

When comparing tariffs, look at the whole electricity plan, including import rates, standing charges and export terms. A high export rate alone does not tell you the cost of supplying the rest of your home.

Ask for the assumptions

• How much annual generation is forecast, and on what basis?
• How much is expected to be used at home or exported?
• Which import and export rates have been used?
• What changes if your daytime use or the tariff changes?
• Are battery costs and energy losses included?

A battery can shift some surplus to later use, but it is not automatically the better financial choice. Compare its additional cost with the value of the electricity it could store. See the battery guide for the practical questions.

For a business, include weekends, shutdowns and seasonal changes in demand. Use the commercial solar consultation to discuss the site’s pattern rather than borrowing a household assumption.

If a payment is missing

Check the registration and metering position, then raise the issue with the relevant company. CRU’s guidance explains the complaint route if you have used the company’s formal process and remain dissatisfied. Keep the statements and correspondence.