Grants & Schemes
Government schemes can cut the cost of solar, batteries and heat pumps, or pay you for the energy you export. Here's what's available in 2026.
ECO4 (Energy Company Obligation)
ECO4 targets the least energy-efficient homes (usually EPC D–G) where someone receives qualifying benefits. Measures can include insulation, heating upgrades and, in some cases, solar PV. Eligibility and available measures are assessed per property.
- How much
- Varies by measure and property; can cover most or all of the cost for eligible homes.
- Eligibility
- Means-tested, and usually requires a qualifying benefit and a lower EPC rating.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)
GOV.UK sets the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grants at £7,500 towards an air source heat pump, £7,500 towards a ground source heat pump (including water source and shared ground loops), £5,000 towards a biomass boiler and £2,500 towards an air-to-air heat pump, at one grant per property. Until March 2027 a property heated by oil or LPG with no mains gas connection gets an extra £1,500 towards an air or ground source heat pump, taking it to £9,000. Your MCS-certified installer applies to Ofgem on your behalf and the grant is deducted from your quotation and invoice; the system must be commissioned within 120 days of applying. There is no EPC or insulation condition, and GOV.UK states you remain eligible if you have already had funding to make the property more energy efficient. Checked against gov.uk/apply-boiler-upgrade-scheme on 21 September 2026.
- How much
- £7,500 air source, £7,500 ground source, £5,000 biomass, £2,500 air-to-air; +£1,500 off-gas uplift (oil or LPG, no mains gas) until March 2027.
- Eligibility
- England & Wales; you must own the property (second homes and rented-out property included) and be replacing a fossil fuel system (oil, gas, electric or LPG). No EPC or insulation requirement. Excludes most new builds, social housing, hybrids and properties already given government heat pump funding.
Smart Export Guarantee (SEG)
The SEG replaced the Feed-in Tariff for installations commissioned after March 2019. Ofgem obliges every licensed electricity supplier with at least 150,000 domestic electricity customers, a Mandatory SEG Licensee, to offer at least one compliant export tariff to any generator with an eligible installation. There is no minimum rate: Ofgem's generator guidance says licensees "decide exactly how they want their SEG export tariff to work in terms of its rate, type and length", and the only floor is that the tariff "must be greater than zero pence per kilowatt hour exported at all times". That is why the flat rates we read on suppliers' own pages on 21 September 2026 ran from 3p/kWh (British Gas Export SEG and EDF SEG Export Variable, both open to non-customers) to 25p/kWh (Good Energy Solar Savings Exclusive, for homes whose solar and battery Good Energy Solar installed and who move their electricity supply to Good Energy), with Outgoing Octopus at a flat 12p and So Energy's So Bright Export the highest rate that does not require you to change import supplier, at 20p for 12 months. To claim any of them you need certification of the installation and installer (normally an MCS certificate, though the SEG recognises equivalent schemes such as Flexi-Orb), a meter capable of taking half-hourly export measurements, and an export MPAN, which your supplier requests from your Distribution Network Operator. Your SEG licensee can be a different company from your import supplier, but you may only hold one SEG tariff at a time.
- How much
- 3p–25p/kWh flat rates as of 21 September 2026, and 20p is the best that does not require switching import supplier; see the export tariffs guide.
- Eligibility
- Great Britain; solar PV, wind, hydro, AD or micro-CHP up to 5MW (50kW micro-CHP); MCS-certified install or equivalent, a meter capable of half-hourly export readings and an export MPAN. You cannot take SEG and FiT export payments on the same installation, or hold SEG with two licensees.