“People without panels are children”

• Thom Ofeikens

  Economics editor

The regulation that has been needed for years to make solar panels more financially attractive is no longer needed and is becoming increasingly unfair. That’s what energy companies and experts say. This is the so-called offset agreement.

“People without panels are the goat,” says Martien Visser, professor of Energy Transition at Hanze University in Groningen. “And the differences will only increase in the coming years. The government must intervene in time”.

In recent years, so many solar panels have been installed in the Netherlands that more electricity is regularly generated than is needed at the time. This summer, the result was more visible than ever. Due to the large supply, electricity prices regularly fell to zero or even below in the afternoon. In more and more places, the electricity grid is no longer able to cope with the peaks.

But exceptions other than that, it doesn’t matter to solar panel owners. Thanks to metering, they are not affected by the low price of electricity when they generate more. And the rapidly increasing costs of those ups and downs on the network aren’t just on their behalf. Everyone pays for it.

At the same time, an investment in panels quickly pays for itself. With current energy prices, three to five years is feasible in many cases. That means a yield of 20 to 33 percent.

Because of the big ups and downs, it’s more difficult to keep the electrical system in balance. This costs more and more money. A buyer of a large energy company talks about a few euros a month that all customers now have to pay extra. “And that adds up quickly. I look out my window at a row of rental properties. Those people don’t have it wide. Yet they have a higher bill because I have paneling.”

“System costs are rising because the pool with solar panels is growing, while the pool of people who have to pay is getting smaller,” says Caroline Princen, CEO of Budget Energie. According to Princen, the latter group contains an above-average number of low-income people. These are families who often cannot invest in solar panels.

Marieke Goldschmidt has had solar panels since earlier this year:

The billions of investments for the expansion of the electricity grid are another point. These investments are not only necessary due to the sharp increase in solar panels, but will lead to an affordable energy bill next year. 10 euros per month it’s taller. ACM has yet to approve the rate increase.

Yet another point is that solar panel owners often supply energy when it is cheap due to the large supply. Then they fetch the electricity if it’s more expensive. “Energy providers who have more panel customers feel it enormously in their wallets,” says energy expert Jan Willem Zwang. On the other hand, it can also be profitable, as long as there are enough customers without panels to buy back that power at a higher price.

In addition to the above, the Ministry of Economy and Climate will lose over 250 million euros in tax revenue this year, a spokesperson confirms. Solar panel owners do not have to pay the energy tax on electricity which they can deduct from their consumption.

There has been discussion for some time about how long the net trading scheme is still sustainable. The regulation means there is less incentive to use electricity when it is abundantly available. But doing so is easier said than done for many families, warns Bobby Raghoenath of the Home Owners Association. “At the moment, the technical and financial possibilities for families are too limited to be able to respond sufficiently,” he says.

In December, the House of Representatives is due to debate a bill by climate minister Rob Jetten. The idea is that spot metering will be phased out by 2025. “So that, special care needs to be taken that solar panels remain attractive enough,” warns Raghoenath. “Because of high energy prices, it’s now quite attractive without compensation, but that could be different in two years.”