The first feed-in tariffs for the period after 2027 have been announced

It's still a while away, but the abolition of the net metering scheme on 1 January 2027 is getting closer and closer. We now know from the first energy suppliers how high the compensation for feed-in power will be: not much! Supplier Greenchoice, for example, offers only about 0.25 cents per kWh. However the price for purchasing electricity is around 25 cents per kWh or more, i.e. more than 100 times as expensive.

With such differences between consumption and feed-in tariffs, it's very clear that using your self-generated electricity yourself is going to become essential. Fortunately, this is easy to do for most people, although it sometimes requires an extra investment. Let's see what's possible and what the experience of other customers has been like.

March 2025 was a beautiful month with plenty of sunshine. Most people with solar panels on their roof saw a large part of their yield flow back towards the grid. The percentage of self-consumption was below 25% for most people. This means that 75% of the solar energy flowed to the grid. Fine for now, but after 2027 it would be very wasteful.

Batteries are a good idea, but don't make them too big

Some customers have a different approach. It's easiest for people with a home battery. The excess power is stored in the battery and is automatically taken out again in the evening. But be careful: there must of course be sufficient demand to use up the stored power again in the evening and at night, otherwise the battery will still be half full at the start of the next day. That's why it doesn't make sense to install a very large battery in a home with average power consumption. For most people, a battery with a capacity of 10 kWh is sufficient.

Below you can see an example of a customer with solar panels and a home battery. Without a battery, he would have fed twice as much power back into the grid as he does now. But thanks to his home battery, he was able to use much more of his own power himself and hardly needed any from his energy supplier!

Data from a customer with PV and a home battery in March 2025. On the left is what would have happened without a home battery, on the right is what actually happened: 35% of the power was charged into the battery and consumed in the home

The complete approach

Another way to limit the feed-in is using a charging station for an electric vehicle. With a smart charger, it's very easy to send excess solar power to the car instead of the grid. As long as the car is parked at home, you really ought to make sure it's always connected to the charger. Our charger will then automatically supply the car with only excess solar power. Below we show an example of a customer whose car was connected to the charger on March 29. You can see how the charge perfectly matches the surplus of solar power. Incidentally, the SMA eCharger will also be able to work bidirectionally in the future, i.e. the power can also be taken out of the car again in the evening if necessary. You can simply use the same eCharger for this as you do now, so with today's charging station you're immediately ready for the future.

Solar power production and car charging in 1 picture. The yellow line is the solar power and the blue area is the amount of energy charged to the car. It's clear the charge closely follows the production

We also have very good experiences with the heat pump boiler. The storage tank for hot water is used as a kind of battery, because excess solar power is used to make the temperature in the tank a few degrees warmer. That hot water is then more than enough for the evening and night, so that no mains power will be needed at all to still be able to take a nice warm shower the next morning. Below is an example of a day in March where you can perfectly see how much power the heat pump boiler has used, and where it got the power from.

Solar power production and consumption of a heat pump boiler. The yellow line is the production of the solar panels and the purple area is the energy that the heat pump boiler has consumed. It's clear that all the power for the hot water has come from the sun.

Zonnefabriek believes in a complete approach when it comes to using your own power. With all kinds of small adjustments and additions, we can build a more self-sufficient system step by step. You'll become less dependent on the grid and at the same time help to combat grid congestion.

Increasing your own consumption is going to be so important from 2027 onwards. Don't get caught by surprise, but take the first steps now to get ahead of the new situation. You can always contact us for a home battery system or any other products that might help.