Third of solar panel owners in the Netherlands have earned back costs

Nearly one million Dutch households with solar panels have already recouped the costs of their purchase, Milieu Centraal has calculated. This amounts to around a third of all homes that generate solar energy. The knowledge and information center points out that the net metering scheme, which makes feeding electricity back into the grid profitable, has played an important role in this.

Because the government is abolishing the scheme from 2027, it will become increasingly important for the homes to use solar energy themselves, Milieu Centraal emphasized. This can be done with an electric car or a heat pump. Turning on appliances when the sun is shining also increases self-consumption of solar energy.

Homes with solar panels are currently using an average of 30 percent of the electricity for their own consumption. Even if feeding the electricity back to the grid becomes less profitable, then solar panels are still a good investment, the organization said.

Drawing electricity from the grid is ultimately “three to four times more expensive,” it is noted. “And with self-generated solar power, people are also less dependent on the volatility of the energy market during geopolitical unrest.”

In recent years, many energy companies have started charging feed-in fees for feeding electricity back to the grid. That is an additional reason for homes with solar panels to use more of the electricity they generate.

Milieu Centraal’s helpdesk is asked often if it is smart to turn the solar panels off temporarily due to the feed-in fees. This is not a good idea, according to the organization. “Shutting the system down incorrectly can cause damage and shorten its lifespan. Moreover, by feeding electricity back into the grid, people with a fixed or variable contract will always earn something, despite the feed-in fees.”