Zonnefabriek Self Consumption Challenge 2025
With the abolition of net metering coming up in a few years and with feed-in costs being charged by energy companies, increasing your self-consumption is becoming more and more important. It's a challenge that's more fun if we all take it on together!Using your self-generated solar power as much as possible: that's something that everyone of us with solar panels should increasingly be thinking about. Solar panels remain a very smart use of your savings, but you can get more out of them if you know how to increase your self consumption. Especially when the net metering mechanism will stop in 2027.
To make everyone with solar panels aware of and enthusiastic about it, we invite you to participate in our 'Zonnefabriek Self Consumption Challenge': a competition in which the person who manages to increase their self consumption the most in 1 year will receive a free SMA Sunny Home Manager (including installation) from Zonnefabriek! (N.B.: if you already have one or if you want something different, we will of course work out some other gift of approximately the same value with you)
Increase your self consumption and win a Sunny Home Manager!
How can you take part?
It’s very simple; first calculate your current self-consumption for the most recent period for which you received an annual statement. Send us proof: your electricity bill and your PV generation (screenshots, photos). We'll check the data and note your starting position in our system and then it’s game on! Need some help on how to calculate your self-consumption? Take a look at this article for tips on how to do it.
Look up the last annual bill from your energy supplier to calculate your self consumption
What will it take to win?
Once you have calculated your current self-consumption, you can then try all sorts of stuff to increase it. Things you could try are: turning on washing machines and dishwashers during the day; unplugging chargers (laptop, phone, e-bike) after sunset; running electric boilers on a timer... all electrical devices for which you can vary the time at which you turn them on, can be used. If you have an electric car with a charging station, you can charge it as much as possible during the day (e.g. on the weekend), or you can opt for a smart charging station that you don't have to worry about (by the way: SMA has just released a new EV charger that may be interesting). If you have any other tips that you would like to share with others, let us know! Ultimately, increasing self-consumption is something that everyone can benefit from.
Take up position by the dishwasher with your finger on the button, ready to switch it on when the sun starts to shine..
In one year (give or take) we will ask you to recalculate your self consumption and let us know. The person whose self consumption has increased the most is the champion and will receive a prize, plus of course eternal fame.
Take part and help each other
Participating is fun and simple. Calculate your self-consumption and send an email to service@zonnefabriek.nl. If you have trouble with the calculation, let us know; we may be able to help. Attn: You must have a way to determine the feed-in power: via the smart meter, Home Manager, Home Wizard etc. If you only have an analog Ferraris meter (the analog ones with the horizontal disc that spins around), it will be difficult. By the way: Everyone with solar panels can participate, even if they didn't buy them from Zonnefabriek.
Everyone's a winner!
In this game everybody wins, even those who do not win the prize, because everyone ultimately benefits from increasing self-consumption. It relieves the pressure on our congested electricity grid and creates space for more clean energy. So take part and let's see how ready you are for the future!