Flux for solar owners

Octopus Flux was built for solar and battery homes. The idea was simple: import electricity when it is cheaper, store it in a home battery, then avoid or export during the more valuable evening peak.

That structure matters if you are comparing solar tariffs. Standard Flux is the manual solar-and-battery route to check on the current Octopus pages. Intelligent Octopus Flux is the automated route, but Octopus currently says it is temporarily unavailable during volatile energy prices and points readers back to standard Flux while it is paused. Check the current Octopus pages before making a decision.

Short answer

If you are already on standard Flux, review whether the three daily windows still fit your solar, battery and evening-use pattern. Do not assume the old strategy is still best just because it used to be popular with battery owners.

If you are not already on Flux, compare the options that are actually open to you now. For many solar households that means Outgoing Octopus for export, Agile or a fixed import tariff for usage. Intelligent Octopus Flux may also be relevant if your battery is compatible and you are comfortable with Octopus controlling the optimisation.

How standard Flux works

Standard Flux uses three import and export periods:

Off-peak, 02:00 to 05:00: the cheapest import window. Battery households used this period to top up from the grid before the day began.

Day, 05:00 to 16:00 and 19:00 to 02:00: the middle-rate period. Solar generation, household use and ordinary export usually sit here.

Peak, 16:00 to 19:00: the expensive import window and the highest-value export window. A battery can help by powering the home through this period or exporting stored energy if that makes sense.

The exact unit rates and standing charge vary by region and by product version. For current availability and prices, check Octopus’s Flux page rather than relying on old rate tables.

Why the battery matters

Flux only really makes sense when the home can move electricity around the day. Solar panels create energy when the sun shines. A battery lets you decide whether to use that energy later, avoid the 4pm to 7pm peak or export at a more useful time.

Without a battery, the standard Flux strategy is weaker. You may still export spare solar, but you cannot easily hold midday generation for the evening peak. A solar-only household should normally compare a simple export tariff, Agile, Tracker or a fixed import tariff before treating Flux as the obvious answer.

Export payments and Outgoing Octopus

Octopus changed Outgoing Octopus export prices from 1 March 2026, with its help page saying the fixed Outgoing rate moved to 12p/kWh. Octopus explains that export rates do not mirror import prices because import tariffs include policy, network and standing-charge costs that are not paid back through export.

That makes export choice more nuanced than looking for the highest old headline rate. A flat export tariff pays the same whenever you export. Flux-style products reward timing, but only if your battery, inverter settings and household routine can actually shift energy into the valuable periods.

If you are comparing today, use Octopus’s current export pages and your own postcode quote. Snapshot export figures can become stale quickly because battery economics depend heavily on your region, system size and how much electricity you use at home.

Intelligent Octopus Flux is a different product

Intelligent Octopus Flux is not just standard Flux with a new name. When it is open, it asks Octopus to optimise a compatible home battery, using cheaper import periods and planned export periods to support the grid and improve the return from stored solar. At this review, Octopus’s Intelligent Flux page says the tariff is temporarily unavailable and directs readers to standard Flux instead, so treat reopening and eligibility as live checks rather than assumptions.

Octopus’s Intelligent Flux page says you need solar panels, a connected smart meter and a compatible battery brand. The live eligibility selector lists brands such as AlphaESS, Ecoflow, Enphase, Fox ESS, GivEnergy, Hanchu ESS, Huawei, Sigenergy, SolarEdge and SunPower. Octopus’s export hub shows a shorter teaser list, so treat the live selector as the practical check and confirm the exact model before buying hardware or switching tariff.

This can suit a household that wants automation and is happy for Octopus to make charging and discharging decisions. It may not suit someone who wants full manual control, has an unsupported battery, depends on a warranty or installer restriction that limits third-party control, or uses a battery mainly to back up the home rather than trade energy with the grid.

If your battery brand is listed, still treat that as the start of the check rather than a guarantee. Confirm the exact model, inverter setup, installer support, app or cloud access, warranty position and export paperwork before you let any tariff control the battery. Do not disconnect or tamper with hardware to make an eligibility flow pass.

Eligibility checks to make first

Before planning around any Flux-style setup, check:

• whether the tariff is open to new customers
• whether Octopus can read your smart meter half-hourly
• whether Octopus says it can usually connect to that meter before the terms email arrives
• whether you have an export MPAN or need Octopus to apply for one
• whether your solar installation has MCS or Flexi-Orb paperwork
• whether your installer or network operator has confirmed the connection paperwork
• whether your battery is supported if you are looking at Intelligent Flux
• whether the battery, inverter and app can be controlled by Octopus without fighting your own schedules
• whether any warranty, finance or installer support terms restrict third-party optimisation

These checks matter more than a neat spreadsheet. Octopus says smart-meter connection can take around 14 days before a smart-tariff terms email is ready, and export MPAN setup can involve DNO steps outside Octopus’s control. A smart tariff that cannot get half-hourly readings or export registration sorted will not work cleanly in practice.

Keep the evidence order clear. Inverter, battery and solar-app screenshots can explain what happened, but Octopus’s smart-tariff terms say third-party app or software data cannot replace smart-meter data for billing. For export payments, check the export MPAN, enrolment date and half-hourly export readings before assuming the tariff is wrong.

Flux vs Agile for solar and battery homes

Flux is structured and predictable. Agile is more variable, with half-hourly prices that can be very low, high or occasionally negative. Neither is automatically better for every solar home.

Flux-style pricing may appeal if you want a simple daily pattern and a battery routine built around the evening peak. Agile may appeal if you have good automation, can avoid expensive periods and are comfortable with prices changing every day.

For solar plus battery homes, the comparison should include import cost, export value, battery wear, inverter limits and how much electricity the household can actually shift. If the answer depends on a perfect daily routine, it may be less robust than it looks.

When to be cautious

Be careful if:

• you do not have a battery
• your battery is small compared with your evening demand
• your smart meter or export registration is not settled
• you need manual control over battery reserve levels
• your inverter cannot schedule charge and discharge cleanly
• the tariff you are reading about is not currently open to new customers
• a solar, EV, battery or home-automation app is already trying to control the same charge or discharge window

A solar tariff should make the home easier to run, not turn every day into a manual trading exercise.

Bottom line

Standard Flux is the live manual route to check for solar-and-battery homes, but it still needs the right export setup, smart-meter data and battery routine. Use it to review whether your battery strategy makes sense rather than treating Flux as a generic solar tariff.

If you have solar and a battery, start with your actual setup: smart-meter status, export MPAN, battery compatibility, region and how much evening electricity you use. Then compare current Octopus export and smart-tariff choices. If Octopus still looks like the right fit, the referral page explains how to use the referral before you start a switch.