OVO Energy for Solar Owners UK 2026

OVO Energy is the UK's second-largest energy supplier, serving around 5 million households following its acquisition of SSE Energy Services in 2020. If you're already with OVO — or considering switching — this guide covers how well their tariffs, export rates, and smart features work with plug-in solar.

The short version: OVO is a solid, competent supplier with reasonable rates, but it currently trails Octopus Energy on almost every metric that matters specifically to solar households. If you're with OVO and happy, switching to Octopus will likely earn you £50-100 more per year from your plug-in solar system. If switching feels like too much hassle, OVO is perfectly adequate — you just won't be maximising your returns.

OVO's Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) Rate

The Smart Export Guarantee requires all suppliers with over 150,000 customers to offer an export tariff to generators, including plug-in solar owners. OVO's SEG rate sits at approximately 4.1p/kWh — paid for every kilowatt-hour you export to the grid.

How this compares:

OVO's SEG rate is competitive with fixed-rate export tariffs from other suppliers. But it's significantly worse than Octopus's time-of-use export tariffs (Flux and Agile), which pay dramatically more during peak hours.

What this means in practice: an 800W plug-in solar system exporting 250 kWh per year (a typical amount for a household with moderate self-consumption) earns approximately £10.25 per year from OVO's SEG. The same exports on Octopus Flux could earn £40-60, depending on how much is exported during peak hours.

The export earnings are a small part of the total picture — self-consumption savings (£120-200+/year) dwarf export income on any tariff. But if you're optimising every penny, export rates matter.

OVO's Import Tariffs for Solar Households

Your import tariff — what you pay for electricity from the grid — matters more than your export rate for plug-in solar economics. Every kilowatt-hour your panels generate and you use directly saves you the full import rate.

OVO's main tariff options:

OVO Standard Variable Tariff

The default tariff if you haven't actively chosen another. Currently around 24-28p/kWh for electricity (varies by region and Ofgem price cap quarter). This is the baseline — every kWh your solar panels generate saves you this amount.

There's nothing special about OVO's standard tariff for solar owners. It's comparable to other major suppliers' variable rates.

OVO Fixed Tariffs

OVO periodically offers fixed-rate tariffs that lock in your unit rate for 12-24 months. These can be useful for solar households if the fixed rate is lower than the expected variable rate — you lock in your savings per kWh.

The risk: if variable rates fall below your fixed rate (as they did briefly in some quarters), you're paying more than necessary. For solar owners, this risk is partially mitigated because your panels reduce the total volume of electricity you're buying at the fixed rate.

OVO Smart Tariff Options

OVO has been slower than Octopus to develop time-of-use tariffs for solar households. As of mid-2026, OVO doesn't offer a direct equivalent to Octopus Flux or Agile — tariffs specifically designed around solar generation and battery storage patterns.

OVO does offer Economy 7 and Economy 10 rates for customers with legacy meters, which provide cheaper overnight electricity. But these are legacy products rather than innovative solar-optimised tariffs.

This is OVO's biggest weakness for solar owners. Without a competitive time-of-use tariff, OVO customers miss out on:

• Cheap overnight battery charging (arbitrage)
• Peak-rate export payments
• Dynamic pricing that rewards flexible consumption

The OVO App and Solar Monitoring

OVO's customer app shows your energy usage and costs, and if you have a smart meter, it provides half-hourly consumption data. For solar households, the app shows:

• Import data: how much electricity you've drawn from the grid, broken down by half-hour
• Cost tracking: daily and monthly spend on electricity and gas
• Usage patterns: visual charts showing when you use the most electricity

What the app doesn't show well:

• Solar generation (this comes from your inverter's own app, not OVO)
• Export data (some smart meters record exports, but OVO's app display of this data is limited)
• Net consumption (import minus export/generation)

For serious solar monitoring, you'll need your micro-inverter's own app or a third-party energy monitor. OVO's app is useful for tracking overall bill impact but doesn't give you solar-specific insights.

Compare this to the Octopus app, which integrates with solar and battery systems, shows export earnings, and provides tariff-specific optimisation tips. OVO is behind here.

OVO Greener Energy

OVO offers a "Greener Energy" add-on (previously called "OVO Beyond") that includes:

• 100% renewable electricity backing (via REGOs — Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin certificates)
• Carbon offsetting for your gas usage
• Tree planting contributions

This doesn't affect your plug-in solar economics. Your panels generate genuinely renewable electricity regardless of supplier. The add-on costs a few pounds per month and is primarily a feel-good measure.

OVO vs Octopus: The Solar Showdown

For plug-in solar owners specifically, here's how the two largest innovative suppliers compare:

The verdict: OVO is a perfectly competent supplier. If you're already with them and your main use case is simple self-consumption (using solar electricity directly and buying the rest from the grid), OVO works fine. Your panels save you OVO's import rate on every kWh you self-consume, which is competitive with any other supplier.

But if you want to maximise solar returns — particularly if you have or plan to add battery storage — Octopus offers meaningfully better options. The difference is worth £50-100 per year for a typical plug-in solar household, and potentially more with battery arbitrage.

How to Switch from OVO Without Losing Smart Meter Data

If you decide to switch away from OVO, the process is straightforward, but there are a few solar-specific considerations.

Smart meter continuity: SMETS2 smart meters (the current standard) work with any supplier. Your meter data transfers automatically when you switch. SMETS1 meters (older models) may lose smart functionality temporarily during a switch — they revert to "dumb" mode and may need re-enrolling by your new supplier.

Check which meter you have: SMETS2 meters typically have a make and model number starting with certain prefixes. Your OVO app or a call to OVO can confirm.

Export registration: if you're registered for SEG export payments with OVO, you'll need to register again with your new supplier. This is a simple online form — your new supplier will handle the MCS or product certification requirements.

No exit fees on variable tariffs: if you're on OVO's standard variable tariff, there are no exit fees. Fixed tariffs may have early termination charges — check your tariff terms.

The switch takes 5-15 working days. During the transition, your solar system continues working normally — it feeds electricity into your home regardless of who supplies your grid electricity.

For more on the switching process, see our guide on switching suppliers with solar panels.

When OVO Makes Sense for Solar Owners

Despite the comparison above, there are situations where staying with OVO is reasonable:

• You don't have or want battery storage: without a battery, time-of-use tariffs offer limited benefit. OVO's standard rate is competitive for simple self-consumption
• You value OVO's customer service and app: some customers prefer OVO's interface and support. Saving an extra £50-100/year isn't worth the switch if you're happy where you are
• You're on a competitive OVO fixed deal: if you locked in a low rate, that directly increases your solar savings per kWh
• You use OVO's other products: OVO offers home insurance, boiler cover, and EV tariffs. Bundling may provide overall value that offsets the solar-specific gap

For a broader comparison including British Gas and E.ON, see our three-way supplier comparison. And for more on how export payments work with plug-in solar specifically, see our SEG export guide.