[NoHope]

After many attempts to get an answer following solar panel installation and switching to eon to obtain a seg export payment.

The short answer - No. You are not legally required to have a smart meter but...

a/ You may get cheaper tarrifs or occasional rewards/ cheaper short term tarrifs if you do have a smart meter.

b/ If you do get solar panels and wonder why your old non smart meter is whizzing backwards you should hopefully decide to have a smart meter so you can get paid through am export tariff for your surplus energy. There are conditions though, too lengthy to list here.

c/ If you are lucky you wont get the installation engineer who likes to lecture about health and safety for 30 mins. If you had him you know what I mean.

d/ Is there any alternative to a smart meter (particularly as you may have to send a photo of your not too smart smart meters read out to obtain your payment).
Well here is the answer I got but from Eon but I am certain there are stories out there as the ground rules seem to change regularly !

Received today from Team Radiance

'To apply for SEG you would need a smart meter at the property to record your export reading. In cases where a smart meter is unable to be installed as a working smart meter, we can also install a meter in ‘dumb mode’ in which the meter wouldn't work as smart but would record the export from the solar panels to work with the SEG scheme.
To apply to SEG you would need an approved meter that records export, there are also standalone export meters. But you would need to purchase/discuss this with a separate company.'
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- Everything is on a journey to somewhere - Gerald diPego

[HelenaP_EONNext]

@NoHope Welcome to the Community! 👋

This is a great topic for discussion when exchanging to smart and applying to the SEG scheme! You're correct there are many benefits to exchanging to a smart meter, such as:

• Meter readings sent in automatically each month
• Being able to see your usage with the in-home display
• Greater selection of tariff offers if you have a smart meter installed

Switching to a smart meter or an approved meter after installing solar panels also allows customers to obtain their export reading, in which they can provide to sell their excess energy back to the grid and receive any due payments!

With regards to the meters being smart on the SEG scheme, although the readings will be obtained automatically for your fuels, to request a SEG payment the export readings would still need to be provided manually. The smart meter models will provide the option to obtain the export whereas some of the older meters would not have this ability.

Please keep us updated on your smart and SEG journey! we love to hear about our members experiences! 😊

[NoHope]

@HelenaP_EONNext
Well its great that the advice is above good but better really for new customers that everything is set out in a 'what will happen next' senario, with a realistic timeline, and staff on eons general enquiries number who have all the information. I have three close neighbours who will be going through this - 2 with Eon - as we were all fitted with solar pv through the local council. I hope their experience is better !!

Latest bit of gobbledgook on the end of a seg team email today. Can you explain what the following is supposed to mean ? .

16.5p/kW
We may have linked your new export account to your energy account which means you may need to log out and log back in.
In the meantime you may receive correspondence asking for meter readings, setting up tariffs and setting up direct debits for your SEG account. These are system generated emails and not required with your SEG. Please ignore these emails as we will only ask for readings in 12 months time and we only currently pay by cheque so there is no need to set up a direct debit.
You may also receive emails advising we need these readings to send to your old supplier or we are switching your supply these are also system generated emails that the system automatically sends out when we are registering your export mpan. Please also ignore these emails.'

The seg team.

[NoHope]

Just an addendum. This is definitely NOT a recommendation or an advert for a smart meter. If you would also like to explain what exactly WOULD happen for those who choose to fit solar AND retain their old meter it really would be useful so people can make their own choice ?

[HelenaP_EONNext]

@NoHope As the SEG is a new/separate account, the system can automatically send a welcome email to customers which can be for setting up a tariff and direct debit etc... when in relation to the SEG account, these emails can be ignored 🙂 You will receive correspondence advising of your new SEG account number once this has been processed and you can access both your accounts online!

This would depend on the customers model of meter, if the meter is unable to record the export then this would prevent them from applying to the SEG Scheme. But there are options that can be looked into, such as the installation of a standalone meter that records export through a separate company. Although the solar panels should work automatically and produce energy to be used in the home, separate to selling any excess energy not used.