Changes for solar panels are on the rise

This summer, a solar energy installation with 1756 panels was installed on the roofs of the stable at Roughage Tour participant Wim Bos. There are also already 4 windmills on the farm. In total, the company generates approximately 700.000 kWh per year.

It is well known that solar panels can provide a lot of return, but there are various ways to make solar panels profitable. Because there is a lot of interest from companies in solar panels due to the high financial return, there are more and more problems on the grid. For example, Liander wants to quickly change the current rules. As a result, installing solar panels may become less interesting in the future.

netting
The first option for a solar installation is to use the netting arrangement. This offsets the total energy generated in a year against consumption. This is only possible with small consumer connections, 3x80 amps or lower.

This arrangement will most likely change from 1 January 2023. From that year on, it is the intention that each year there will be 9% less netting. This means that an increasing proportion of the generated energy, which is not used itself but supplied back to the grid, must be sold for the bare electricity price. This law still has to pass the House of Representatives and is therefore not finalized yet.

The intention of this measure is to promote investment in energy storage so that the energy network is not overloaded and private individuals and companies actually use the energy they generate themselves. Grid operator Liander is very concerned about the power grid and wants the netting to go a lot faster than planned.

SDE++
Large consumers with a connection larger than 3x80 ampere cannot make use of the netting arrangement. These companies are eligible for the SDE++ subsidy. With the SDE subsidy, the price of the electricity supplied is supplemented to €0,08 or €0,074 per kWh, depending on the size of the installation.

Registration for the SDE++ subsidy is only open for a limited period and the budget is limited. This does not mean that everyone who registers can actually make use of the scheme. The SDE++ will be open this year from October 5 to November 11, 2021 and the budget is €5 billion. Please note that the network operator provides a green statement for the installation to be built and that the environmental permit has been granted for panels that are not placed on the roof. 

Interesting for dairy farmers
Both ways can be interesting for dairy farmers, but this mainly depends on whether the solar installation is characterized as a large-scale user or as a small-scale user. In certain areas, due to overloading of the grid, solar panels can no longer be installed and the grid operator needs time to upgrade the energy grid.

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