‘Calculation return costs Solar panels must be more transparent’

This article was last updated on March 17, 2025

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‘Calculation return costs Solar panels must be more transparent’

It is not easy to find out how energy suppliers determine the costs for supplying energy from solar panels. That is what the Consumers’ Association says in a call to suppliers to make the calculations clearer.

It is about energy that comes from solar panels, but that is not used by the household that has the panels. This unused energy can deliver the household to the energy company with which it has a contract.

That company incurs costs to process the energy. The company can pass on those ‘return costs’, but only if they are roughly the same as the actual costs.

This only applies to households with solar panels that cover the energy requirement of that household. Different rules apply to households with many more solar panels. Because they are seen as energy producers.

Unclear

According to the Consumers’ Association, it is therefore not clear how energy companies calculate the return costs. As a result, it is not easy to determine whether the costs charged are reasonable, as the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) prescribes.

The ACM announced last week that the return costs have increased. The regulator will investigate how energy companies calculate the costs. According to the Consumers’ Association, the differences between the energy companies increase to hundreds of euros per year.

The Consumers’ Association calls on energy companies to use on one fixed method for calculating the return costs. That would make compare easier.

From next year it has been regulated by law that one method is used. “Until that time it will continue to puzzle,” says a spokesperson for the Consumers’ Association.