Solar Buy-Back Rates NZ: Every Retailer Compared

Key Takeaways

• Published solar export rates in New Zealand range from 8c/kWh up to 24c/kWh depending on your power retailer and tariff structure.
• New Zealand has no government-mandated feed-in tariff; each power company determines its export pricing and conditions independently.
• Self-consuming your solar energy saves 30 to 38c per kWh on retail electricity, which is two to four times more valuable than exporting at 8 to 16c per kWh.
• Under Electricity Authority regulations from 1 July 2026, all large retailers must offer at least one time-varying solar export plan.

What is a solar buy-back rate in New Zealand?

When your rooftop solar system generates more electricity during the day than your household appliances consume, the excess electricity flows into the local distribution network. Your electricity retailer pays you for this surplus energy by crediting your monthly power bill. This payment is known as a solar buy-back rate or export tariff.

In New Zealand, published export tariffs currently run from about 8c/kWh to 24c/kWh. Unlike Australia or the United Kingdom, where regulators established formal feed-in mechanisms or mandatory floors, New Zealand has no statutory minimum buy-back rate. Retailers set their own export prices and can adjust them with 30 days notice.

The central economic fact of New Zealand solar is the spread between import rates and export credits. Homeowners pay between 30 to 38c per kWh to buy electricity from the grid, while standard daytime export credits sit between 8 to 16c per kWh. This gap means the true financial return from solar comes from displacing retail grid purchases, not from selling volume to the power company. For broader system pricing contexts, review our guide to solar-panel-costs-new-zealand.

Every NZ electricity retailer compared

Electricity retailers structure their buy-back tariffs either as flat rates across all hours or as time-of-use tariffs that pay higher rates during morning and evening grid demand peaks.

Meridian Energy

Meridian Energy offers two main approaches. Its open-term Freedom and Night Saver plans pay 15c/kWh year-round, lifting to 24c/kWh in the winter peak windows (7-10am and 5-9pm, Jul-Sep) with a $120 credit. For homeowners seeking price certainty, a separate 3-year fixed solar plan locks 17c/kWh flat with a $300 signup credit.

Octopus Energy

Octopus Energy provides time-of-use export structures designed for active solar households. OctopusFlexi pays 19c/kWh peak and 14c/kWh off-peak on most distribution networks. Households with battery storage can access the OctopusPeaker plan, which pays 23c/kWh during peak export hours (7-11am, 5-9pm) and 10c/kWh off-peak. If you are considering adding storage to capture these peak windows, see our solar-battery-storage-guide-new-zealand.

Mercury & Genesis Energy

Mercury pays a standard rate of 11.1c/kWh. Customers who install via Harrisons can access a promotional 18c/kWh rate (ex GST, roughly 20.7c including GST), but this requires a 2-year contract and is strictly capped at 500kWh per billing cycle; exports exceeding 500kWh revert to 11.1c. Genesis Energy keeps pricing simple with a flat 12.5c/kWh (ex GST) across all residential plans, identical to its Frank Energy brand for systems up to 50kW.

Contact Energy & Ecotricity

Contact Energy pays a standard 8c/kWh, the lowest baseline rate among major providers. While its Good Charge plan advertises higher export credits during peak hours, Contact prices tariffs dynamically by address rather than publishing a universal tariff schedule. Ecotricity provides an attractive combination of 21c/kWh peak export and 16c/kWh off-peak, offering the strongest off-peak export value on the market.

Why the highest export rate is not always the best deal

Chasing the highest headline export rate without examining your overall electricity tariff is a common trap. Solar homes still import electricity from the grid on winter mornings, cloudy afternoons, and throughout the evening.

Every power plan includes two charges that can easily outweigh an extra 2c on your export rate:

1. The retail import rate: If a retailer offers 23c/kWh for exports but charges 38c/kWh for imports, a household importing 3,500 kWh per year pays $1,330 in grid power. A competitive retailer charging 28c/kWh for imports and paying 12c/kWh for exports costs $980 in imports, leaving the homeowner ahead overall.
2. Daily fixed network charges: Daily fixed connection charges in New Zealand typically range from $1.30 to $2.20/day. Over a full calendar year, fixed daily charges total between $475 to $800 before using a single kilowatt-hour. Retailers advertising elevated buyback rates sometimes recover their margin through higher daily fixed rates.

Self-consumption vs export: where the real value lies

In New Zealand, self-consumed solar electricity is worth two to four times more than exported solar electricity. When your panels generate a unit of power that you use immediately, you avoid paying the full retail electricity rate of 30 to 38c. When that unit flows into the grid, you receive an export credit of only 8 to 16c.

Consider a typical household solar generation profile with 5,400kWh used on site and 3,600kWh sent to the grid:

• At 60% self-consumption (5,400kWh), you save $1,728 at 32c/kWh avoided import.
• The remaining 3,600kWh exported at 12c earns you $432 in export credits.
• Total annual benefit is $2,160, but 80% of that financial return comes directly from self-consumption.

Simple domestic habits dramatically increase self-consumption without spending thousands on hardware. Running dishwashers, clothes dryers, and washing machines during midday production hours, using timer relays on electric hot water cylinders, and charging electric vehicles when the sun shines ensures you capture the 32c value rather than the 12c export return.

Electricity Authority regulations and grid limits

New Zealand's regulatory environment for distributed generation is undergoing significant modernization:

• Time-varying export requirement: Regulations effective from 1 July 2026 require large retailers (those holding 5% or more market share) to offer at least one time-varying export plan reflecting the genuine value of distributed generation to the grid during peak congestion periods. While the Electricity Authority mandates the availability of time-varying plans, it does not set a mandatory minimum cents-per-kWh floor.
• Peak line rebates: From 1 April 2026, electricity lines companies are required to pay rebates for generation exported during peak network demand windows, which retailers pass through to consumers.
• 10kW single-phase export cap: From 11 May 2026, lines companies across New Zealand have implemented a default 10kW export limit for new residential single-phase solar connections to prevent localized voltage rise. For details on how distribution networks process connection approvals, consult our overview of the distributed-generation-application-lines-company-nz.

How to switch power retailers for solar

If your current provider pays less than 10c/kWh for exports, switching to a provider with competitive export and import terms is straightforward:

1. Check your current contract terms: Ensure you are on an open-term plan with no early termination penalties.
2. Verify smart meter capability: Ensure your smart meter has its export register enabled by your lines company.
3. Compare total annual costs: Evaluate your import tariff, daily fixed line charge, and buyback rate together based on your actual 12-month power bills.
4. Request terms in writing: When considering plans with conditional peak rates (such as Electric Kiwi or Contact), confirm the specific export schedule applicable to your ICP before switching.