Net metering credited every exported kWh against your bill at the full retail price — a one-to-one swap, so the grid worked like a free battery. Net billing, in force since 1 January 2026, instead pays you the wholesale price (around €0.10/kWh) for exports while you still buy power at the retail price (around €0.32/kWh). The buy/sell gap means the energy you consume directly is now worth far more than the energy you export.

Every kWh you use yourself saves the full €0.32 retail rate, while every kWh you export now earns only about €0.10. A typical home uses 30–40% of its solar directly; the rest is exported at the lower price. Shifting usage into daylight hours — and especially adding a battery — keeps more of your cheap solar at home instead of selling it back at a loss.

A home battery typically lifts self-consumption from around 35% to roughly 70%, recovering most of the value the old net-metering scheme used to provide. Use the simulator above to see the difference for your bill and system size — the gap between the 'no battery' and 'with battery' tiles is what storage is worth to you each year.

The state grant is €375 per kW of battery capacity, capped at €1,500 (4 kW), with a 50% uplift in designated mountain areas. A battery is now mandatory to qualify for new-PV state grants, so storage is both a financial and a regulatory consideration for new installations.

In February 2026 EAC cleared accumulated net-metering credit balances as part of the transition to net billing. If you were relying on banked credits to offset winter bills, that buffer no longer exists, which is another reason self-consumption and on-site storage have become the priority.