CEG, NC6 and NC7: the Irish export rules, plainly

Three bits of jargon come up in every Irish solar conversation: CEG, the scheme that pays you for the electricity you send back to the grid, and NC6 and NC7, the ESB Networks forms that connect your system to that grid. Here is what each one actually means, in plain English, with the rates and rules as they stand in 2026.

The Clean Export Guarantee, plainly

The CEG is Ireland's version of a feed-in tariff. When your panels make more electricity than your home is using, the surplus flows out to the national grid, and your electricity supplier pays you for every unit of it. Under the Government of Ireland's microgeneration scheme, every licensed supplier in Ireland is legally required to offer an export tariff, so whoever you are with, you are entitled to be paid.

Your exports are measured by a smart meter, which records what you import and export in 30 minute intervals. The payment usually lands as a credit on your electricity bill, though some suppliers pay separately, and the frequency varies by supplier: monthly, every two months, quarterly or twice a year.

One change worth knowing about. Homes without a smart meter used to be paid off an estimate, the so called deemed export. Since January 2026 the CRU has been phasing those estimated payments out, and if you decline a smart meter upgrade you can lose your export payments entirely. The meter is fitted free, so there is no good reason to refuse it.

What suppliers are paying in 2026

Rates move around, but as of early 2026 they range from about 15.89c to 32c per kWh across the main suppliers:

Supplier	Export rate per kWh
SSE Airtricity (Activ8 Premium)	32c year one, 27c year two
Pinergy	25c
Electric Ireland	19.5c to 24c
Community Power	20c
SSE Airtricity (standard)	19.5c to 21c
Energia	18.5c to 21c
Bord Gáis Energy	18.5c to 20.5c
Flogas	18.5c
Prepay Power	15.89c (inc. VAT)
Yuno Energy	15.89c (inc. VAT)

Rates as of January to March 2026, gathered from the suppliers and comparison sites like Switcher.ie. Suppliers change them regularly, and the headline rates usually carry conditions, like being on that supplier's premium tariff, so check the supplier's own page before you commit.

The €400 tax free allowance

The first €400 a year you earn from exporting is completely tax free, and Budget 2026 extended that exemption to the end of 2028. Stay under €400 and you do not need to register for anything or file anything. Go over it and the excess is taxed at your normal rate with USC and PRSI, declared on your annual return. The allowance applies to individuals, not companies, and for most homes with a typical system the maths keeps you comfortably under the threshold anyway.

NC6: the form that connects a normal home system

The NC6 is a notification, not a permission. It is an "inform and fit" form your installer submits to ESB Networks to tell them your system exists, and ESB cannot refuse a qualifying system. It covers connections up to 25 amps, about 6 kVA, on single phase, and up to 16 amps per phase, about 11 kVA, on three phase. That comfortably covers the vast majority of Irish homes.

It has to be submitted by a registered installer, because the paperwork includes the Safe Electric completion certificate, so it is never something you do yourself. There is no fee, and processing takes at least 20 working days. The reason it matters to you is simple: without the NC6, ESB does not know your system exists, you will not get your free smart meter upgrade, and your supplier will not switch on your export payments.

NC7: for the bigger systems

Above the NC6 limits you are into NC7 territory: single phase from 6 kVA up to 17 kVA, and three phase from 11 kVA up to 50 kVA, which is where bigger homes, farms and small commercial jobs land. Unlike the NC6, this is a formal application. ESB Networks runs a full technical assessment before any work can proceed, it needs proper single line diagrams, and there is an application fee.

Expect it to take around 8 to 10 weeks from paying the fee to getting a connection offer. And be aware that ESB sometimes issues a Limited Maximum Export Capacity offer, capping how much you can actually export to protect the local grid, which means fitting an export limiting scheme on your inverter.

kWp and kVA, and why the difference saves you weeks

This is the detail most people miss, and it is the one worth remembering. The ESB limits are based on kVA, the maximum AC output of your inverter, not kWp, which is the peak DC output of the panels on the roof. Panel size and connection class are two different things.

In practice that means you can put a big array up, 8 kWp or more, and as long as the inverter is capped at 6 kVA you still go through the simple, free, no permission needed NC6 route. A good installer designs around exactly this, sizing the panels for your usage and the inverter for the grid rules, so you get the generation without the 10 week wait.

What this means on a quote

Export income is one side of the maths; the SEAI grant of up to €1,800 is the other, and they stack, two entirely separate schemes. When an installer quotes you, the grid connection detail should already be thought through: which form applies, who submits it, and when your export payments will actually start. In Caolú the NC6 and NC7 thresholds are built into the assessment itself, and the savings model uses current Irish supplier export rates rather than a rounded guess. So the payback figure on the proposal is built from the real rules, which is exactly what a homeowner comparing three quotes should test every installer on.