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.
As long as net metering applies, electricity you feed back is worth as much as electricity from the grid. A battery that stores solar power for the evening then earns nothing; because of losses when charging and discharging and its own consumption, it even costs a little.
From 2027 you only get your supplier's feed-in compensation for electricity you feed back, and you sometimes pay feed-in costs. Every kWh of solar power you use yourself is then worth more than a kWh you feed back. That difference is what a battery earns.
For whom does it earn the most?
For a home with a lot of surplus solar power during the day and a lot of consumption in the evening and at night, for example when nobody is home during the day or an electric car charges in the evening. Daytime consumption (working from home, a heat pump, air conditioning, the car charging on surplus solar) uses the solar power before it reaches the battery, and lowers the yield.
Smart control and a dynamic contract
With a dynamic contract the battery can also charge when electricity is cheap and discharge when it is expensive. That earns more, but how much depends on the difference between cheap and expensive hours, and that is uncertain. With a dynamic contract and a smart control system you can often also reclaim the VAT on the purchase.
Payback time
Whether a battery pays off ultimately depends on the purchase price, its lifespan and what it saves per year. The calculator works out the savings for every hour of a year and compares them with a range of typical prices or with the price from your quote.
Calculate what a home battery earns you
An estimate, not personal advice. How the calculator works: How does this calculator work?
Other questions
- What changes when net metering ends?
- Do solar panels still pay off without net metering?
- Fixed or dynamic contract: which is cheaper?
- What is a dynamic energy contract?
- Is a dynamic contract smart with solar panels?
- How do I compare dynamic energy contracts?
- What are the risks of a dynamic contract?
- Does a dynamic contract pay off with an electric car?
- What are feed-in costs?
- What will the end of net metering cost me?
- Should I cancel my fixed contract before net metering ends?
- Does a home battery make sense without solar panels?
- Should I switch off my solar panels when power prices are negative?
- Does it pay to charge the electric car on solar power?
- Does a heat pump suit a dynamic contract?
- How do I read my annual electricity statement?
- What is a feed-in tariff?
- How much of my solar power do I use myself?
- Battery, charger, heat pump or another contract: what first?
- How big should my home battery be?
- Does a home battery make sense with a fixed contract?
- Plug-in battery or fixed home battery?
- How much energy does a home battery lose?
- Is electricity cheap at night with a dynamic contract?
- What does a home battery do in winter?
- How much electricity do I use at night?
- Does a home battery suit a heat pump?
- Which energy comparison site can I trust?
- How do I calculate the payback time of a home battery?
- What do time-dependent network tariffs mean for me?