Battery, but no EV
Start with British Gas Charge Power, Octopus Agile and Octopus Charge Pack if your battery is compatible. These routes do not depend on pretending the household owns an EV.
Solar and battery tariff guide
10 leading UK solar and battery tariffs compared
There is no honest universal number one. The best option depends on whether you have solar, a battery, an EV, compatible equipment and enough flexibility to move electricity use.
Checked against supplier information: 21 September 2026
Start with your equipment
The useful shortlist is different for every home.
Solar and battery
Compare Octopus Flux with a separate import tariff plus an export plan. Model a full year: summer export and winter grid charging can favour different arrangements.
Solar, no battery
Concentrate on export value and the normal household import tariff. Outgoing Octopus and supplier-exclusive SEG rates may be more relevant than battery optimisation.
Solar, battery and EV
EV tariffs widen the field, but charge the car directly in the cheap window where possible. Sending every EV kWh through the home battery adds avoidable losses and cycling.
The comparison
Ten leading tariff routes worth checking.
This is a shortlist, not a permanent league table.
Tariffs open, close and change. “Best” depends on your half-hourly consumption and export data, not the most attractive single rate on an advert. Options marked export-only do not replace your import tariff.
1. Octopus Flux
Best starting point: homes with solar and a battery that can deliberately import, store and export at different times.
Flux uses set daily periods, including a cheaper overnight window and a higher-priced evening period. It is simple to understand, but the peak import rate can punish a battery that empties too early.
2. Octopus Agile
Best starting point: flexible households comfortable with changing half-hourly prices.
Tomorrow's prices are published each day. A battery can exploit low periods, but savings are not guaranteed and automation or regular attention helps.
3. Octopus Charge Pack
Best starting point: owners of a supported battery who are willing to let Octopus optimise charging.
This is an add-on rather than a complete stand-alone electricity tariff. Read the control, compatibility and credit terms carefully before handing over battery scheduling.
4. British Gas Charge Power
Best starting point: battery owners who want a fixed overnight charging window without needing an EV.
British Gas advertises half-price electricity from midnight to 5am for eligible battery customers. Check the underlying tariff, standing charge and smart-meter requirements as well as the discount.
5. Outgoing Octopus
Best starting point: households with meaningful surplus generation or controlled battery export.
Octopus offers fixed and wholesale-linked export routes. Pairing rules matter, and the best export tariff can change which import tariff wins overall.
6. British Gas Export & Earn
Best starting point: generators comparing a British Gas customer export rate with open-market SEG alternatives.
British Gas offers different export routes depending on whether it also supplies your electricity. Confirm the current rate and any exclusivity before moving import supply.
7. OVO SEG Install Exclusive
Best starting point: customers whose solar, or solar and battery, was installed by OVO.
The strongest advertised OVO rate is tied to who installed the equipment. That can make it attractive for eligible homes but irrelevant to most existing systems.
8. OVO SEG Beyond Exclusive
Best starting point: existing OVO electricity customers already considering the Beyond add-on.
Judge the export uplift against the cost and value of the wider package. A higher export headline is not automatically a lower annual energy bill.
9. E.ON Next Export
Best starting point: E.ON Next customers, particularly where an exclusive rate applies.
E.ON Next provides more than one export eligibility route. Compare the rate available to your actual installation and import account, not the highest rate shown for a different customer group.
10. ScottishPower SmartGen
Best starting point: households wanting another established-supplier SEG comparison.
SmartGen pays for metered renewable export. Check whether a customer or installation-linked rate applies and compare it alongside your import tariff.
The numbers that matter
Do not compare the cheap rate in isolation.
| Check | Why it changes the answer | What to use |
|---|---|---|
| Peak import price | A battery can run empty before the expensive period ends. | Your half-hourly winter demand |
| Cheap-window length | The battery may not fully charge within a short window at its maximum charge power. | Usable kWh ÷ charge kW |
| Export payment | Exporting may be worth more than storing solar for later use. | Measured annual export, not a guess |
| Round-trip losses | You buy more electricity than the battery later delivers. | Manufacturer efficiency plus real data |
| Standing charge and add-ons | A good unit rate can sit inside a more expensive overall package. | The complete annual quote |
| Equipment control | Some offers require a supported battery, inverter, EV or charger. | Supplier compatibility list |
A sensible illustration
Use three scenarios, not one promised saving.
For a battery-only home, I would model a cautious, central and strong-use case using the household's actual half-hourly consumption. Each case should include charging losses, the full import tariff, standing charges and realistic battery cycling.
✓ What happens if the tariff changes?
✓ How many kWh can genuinely move overnight?
✓ Does the saving justify the installed battery price?
✓ Would solar improve the economics materially?
If a proposal only shows the cheap overnight price, it has not shown the investment case.
Make it specific
A tariff is the final layer of the design, not the starting point.
First establish the roof, generation, household demand, battery capacity and equipment constraints. Then test tariffs against that real system.
Tom Solar is not an energy supplier or tariff broker and receives no commission for the supplier links on this page.