The net-metering scheme was introduced at the beginning of this century to make the purchase of solar panels attractive for households. By doing so, you contribute to a sustainable environment and you benefit financially. This is because the net-metering scheme allowed you to deduct the electricity you generate (minus your own consumption) from the amount of electricity you supply to the energy network. This works like this:

Households that generate power with solar panels but do not use all the power themselves, feed it back to the public grid. They can offset this feed-in against the electricity they take from the grid at any other time of the year. This offsetting is called netting. The big advantage is that you get back the electricity price, energy tax and VAT on the electricity you supply back.

Supply and price

Netting is therefore beneficial for you as a solar panel owner, but less so for the power company. In summer, your solar panels often produce a surplus of power, which you feed back into the grid. Because of this large supply, electricity is often very cheap at that time: the energy company gets little money for it, or even has to add money. In exchange, you get expensive power back in winter. That costs the power company money. Power companies now choose to pass on some of those costs to people who own solar panels via a feed-in tariff per kWh.

So if you also have solar panels on your own roof, what are the consequences of the end of the balancing scheme?
As mentioned, the balancing scheme will end on 1 January 2027. From then on, you will still receive compensation for the energy you feed back into the public grid (by law, this is at least 50 per cent of the ‘bare’ energy price, about 5.5 cents/kWh), but you will no longer receive energy tax and VAT on that power.

Questions and answers

The abolition of the net-metering scheme raises questions for many people:
Is it still smart to have solar panels? What will they get me? And if you don't yet have solar panels on your own roof, but were planning to invest in them, should you still want to? A very short answer to these questions is: yes, solar panels remain a smart and profitable purchase. Ask Milieu Centraal, for example. You can read more about it on their website: Solar power after 2027: here's what you need to know.

Is it still wise to participate in Zon op Alphen if you have your own solar panels? The answer to this question, too, is yes. We explain this below.

Of the electricity generated by your own solar panels, you use part of it yourself and feed the rest back. You pay a feed-in fee on this and receive at least 50 per cent (about 5.5 cents/kWh) of your bare electricity from your supplier. For the certificates, the volume of electricity you buy from your supplier is important. If you cover that volume of kWh of power per year with certificates of 250 kWh/year, you will receive energy tax and VAT back on your purchased volume. So you can cover your entire purchased usage with certificates. Based on the figures for 2026, the energy tax benefit is 9.1 cents/kWh (with VAT it is 11.01/kWh).
Certificates from Zon op Alphen currently cost about 100 euros and deliver 250kWh/year. They pay off until April 2034, because that is how long our projects at Rijnvicus and Golfclub Zeegersloot will run.

A calculation example

Suppose your panels generate 2000 kWh per year and your total self-consumption is 3000 kWh on an annual basis. You then have a difference of 1000 kWh, which you need to start buying from your e-supplier. For that 1000 kWh, you can buy four certificates at 250kWh/piece for the current daily price of (at the moment) about 100 euros each (so total of 400 euros). With these four certificates, based on electricity prices (9.1 ct/kWh + 21% VAT), you will get back over 11 cents per kWh. That's 110 euros a year. This will write off the investment in the certificates in four years, leaving you with several years to make a full profit.

Conclusion: whether you generate more or less power with your solar panels than your own use, keeping or buying extra certificates Zon op Alphen certainly makes sense. But know: these are only worthwhile for the number of kWh of your own use. After all, you can get an energy tax refund on these kWh. Incidentally, no certificates are currently available. But it pays to put yourself on the waiting list in case certificates become available. More information about participating and registering with Zon op Alphen can be found on the page Questions and answers.

What else you need to know

The net-metering scheme with feed-in compensation will continue until the end of 2026 annual and appears as such on your annual statement. From 2027, the calculation of feed-in will go on quarterly basis and that means your energy supplier will start charging your feed-in costs on a monthly basis and not at the end of the year.