14 May 2026

Is solar still worth it now net metering is being phased out?

Net metering is being phased out and some suppliers charge feed-in fees. That doesn't change whether panels pay off, but it does change where the return comes from.

First, the honest answer: the net-metering scheme is being phased out and some energy suppliers charge fees for electricity you send back to the grid. We deliberately mention no years, percentages or amounts here — those change faster than an article gets revised, and an outdated figure is worse than no figure. What changes structurally: electricity you use directly is worth more than electricity you feed back. Panels still pay off, but the payback period differs per household, because it depends on your consumption, your roof and your energy contract.

That shifts the question from 'how much do I generate' to 'how much do I use myself'. Without any changes, an average family uses only part of its own generation directly; that share can be raised with choices that cost nothing. Run the washing machine, dishwasher and dryer during the day instead of in the evening. Charge an electric car during the hours the panels deliver. Let a heat pump or boiler do its heaviest work in the middle of the day. And while an east-west layout gives a lower peak, it spreads generation across more hours of the day — exactly the hours in which a household draws power.

Your energy contract is the second dial. Fixed rates, dynamic rates and the way a supplier settles feed-in differ per provider and per contract; that is your supplier's domain, not your installer's. What you can do here: ask in your quote for a realistic estimate of the yearly yield of your roof surface, and work that through against your own contract and consumption profile. An installer who quotes a payback period without having seen your meter readings is working from an average that says nothing about your situation.

Anyone who wants to raise self-consumption further ends up at a home battery in time — it stores the midday generation for the evening. The battery itself falls outside this site (our sister site Thuisaccu Direct covers that), but the solar side is arranged here: preparing the connection costs € 350 to € 900 and consists of a battery-ready or hybrid inverter, a free circuit and the cabling to the battery's location. Do it straight away with the installation and it is a fraction of the work. Check the price index for the band that fits your plan and have the installer do the sums on your roof and your consumption.