Frequently asked questions
Does a home battery pay off?
With net metering a home battery earns almost nothing. Without net metering, from 2027, it can pay off: especially if you have solar power left over during the day and use enough in the evening and at night to empty it every day.
What changes when net metering ends?
On 1 January 2027 the net metering scheme ends. You can then no longer offset electricity you feed back against electricity you take from the grid. You get a feed-in compensation for it, which is usually much lower than what you pay for electricity.
Do solar panels still pay off without net metering?
Usually yes, but less than with net metering. Solar power you use yourself saves the full electricity rate. For electricity you feed back, from 2027 you only get the feed-in compensation, minus any feed-in costs.
Fixed or dynamic contract: which is cheaper?
That depends on when you use electricity. A dynamic contract is often cheaper if you can shift consumption to cheap hours, for example with an electric car or a home battery. A fixed contract gives you certainty about the price.
What is a dynamic energy contract?
With a dynamic contract you pay a different price for electricity every quarter hour or every hour: the price on the power market at that moment, plus your supplier's mark-up and energy tax. Tomorrow's prices are known the day before.
Is a dynamic contract smart with solar panels?
That depends on what you do with your solar power. On sunny afternoons the market price is low, so feeding back earns little with a dynamic contract. If you use a lot yourself or shift your usage, it can actually be favourable, especially from 2027.
How do I compare dynamic energy contracts?
All suppliers use the same market prices. They differ in the purchase mark-up per kWh, the fixed costs per month and what they pay or charge for feeding back. Which contract is cheapest depends on your usage and feed-in.
What are the risks of a dynamic contract?
You carry the market price risk yourself. If prices rise, as in the energy crisis, you pay more straight away. In winter and on cold evenings electricity is often more expensive. On the other hand, you can benefit from cheap hours and can usually cancel monthly.
Does a dynamic contract pay off with an electric car?
Often yes, if the car charges during cheap hours: at night or on sunny afternoons. A car uses a lot and can usually wait, so its charging is easy to shift. If it charges straight away when you get home in the expensive early evening, the advantage disappears.
What are feed-in costs?
Feed-in costs are costs a supplier charges for electricity you feed back to the grid with solar panels. Some suppliers charge an amount per kWh, others a fixed monthly amount that rises with how much you feed back (a tiered scale).
What will the end of net metering cost me?
That depends mainly on how much electricity you feed back and what your supplier pays or charges for it. Those who feed back a lot lose the most. Calculate it with your own annual statement.
Should I cancel my fixed contract before net metering ends?
Not automatically. First check in the terms what your supplier pays or charges for feeding back once net metering ends, and what cancelling costs. Then calculate whether another contract makes up for that.
Does a home battery make sense without solar panels?
Only with a dynamic contract. The battery can then charge when electricity is cheap and discharge when it is expensive. How much that yields depends on the difference between cheap and expensive hours, and that is uncertain.
Should I switch off my solar panels when power prices are negative?
Only if feeding back costs you money in that hour. With a dynamic contract and without net metering, that is the case when the price is negative. Then use the electricity yourself if you can; it is better not to feed back what is left over.
Does it pay to charge the electric car on solar power?
From 2027 it usually does, if the car is at home during the day. Solar power that goes into the car does not have to be fed back for a low tariff and bought back later at the full rate.
Does a heat pump suit a dynamic contract?
It can, but the advantage is smaller than with a car or battery. A heat pump mainly uses electricity in winter, on cold days and often at hours when electricity is expensive. How much you can shift depends on your home and installation.
How do I read my annual electricity statement?
The annual statement shows your consumption from the grid and what you fed back in kWh, the price per kWh, the fixed costs, the grid costs and the taxes. For a calculation without net metering, grid consumption and feeding back matter most.
What is a feed-in tariff?
The amount your supplier pays for electricity you feed back to the grid. As long as net metering applies, it only counts for what you feed back beyond what you take. From 2027 it counts for every kWh you feed back.
How much of my solar power do I use myself?
For an ordinary household without a battery, often 30 to 40 percent. The rest goes to the grid. To see how much it is for you, compare the generation in your inverter's app with the feed-in on your annual statement.
Battery, charger, heat pump or another contract: what first?
That differs from home to home. Changes affect each other: two together can yield more or less than each separately, and a combination can also cost money. So calculate them separately and together.
How big should my home battery be?
Roughly as big as what you have left over during the day on an ordinary day and use again in the evening and at night. Bigger is not automatically better: you use the extra kWh on fewer days, while you do pay for them.
Does a home battery make sense with a fixed contract?
With a fixed contract a battery only earns from your own solar power: storing during the day what you would otherwise feed back, and using it in the evening. Charging at cheap hours yields nothing, because every hour costs the same.
Plug-in battery or fixed home battery?
A plug-in battery goes into an ordinary socket and is cheaper, but has little power, often around 800 W. A fixed home battery goes on its own circuit, can charge and discharge much faster, and costs more.
How much energy does a home battery lose?
Charging and discharging always loses part of the electricity, and the battery and inverter also use power when they are doing nothing (standby). Both take away part of the yield.
Is electricity cheap at night with a dynamic contract?
Not always. The market price is often lower at night than in the early evening, but every kWh carries energy tax, VAT and the supplier's mark-up. Electricity is often cheapest on sunny afternoons in spring and summer.
What does a home battery do in winter?
In winter you have little solar power left over during the day, so a battery that only charges from solar power is often almost empty. With a dynamic contract it can still charge at cheap hours and discharge at expensive ones.
How much electricity do I use at night?
The easiest way is via the smart meter: your supplier's app or a P1 meter shows your consumption per hour. Without that data, take two meter readings: in the evening before bed and in the morning when you get up.
Does a home battery suit a heat pump?
Sometimes. A heat pump uses most in winter, when there is little solar power to store. With a fixed contract a battery therefore adds little for the heat pump; with a dynamic contract it can help avoid expensive hours.
Which energy comparison site can I trust?
You can best judge that yourself, with a few questions: how does the site make money, are all providers included, does it use the rate or the promotion, and do you have to hand over details before you see the result?
How do I calculate the payback time of a home battery?
The simplest sum: the purchase price divided by what the battery saves per year. If the result is longer than the battery's lifetime, it does not pay for itself. The tricky part is the saving per year.
What do time-dependent network tariffs mean for me?
Today a household pays the grid operator a fixed amount per year, which depends on the connection and not on when you use electricity. Grid operators and the regulator are working on tariffs that vary by time of day. Exactly how and when that will happen has not yet been decided.
How the calculator works and how accurate it is, you can read in How does this calculator work?