Net billing is the scheme that compensates solar owners in Cyprus for the electricity they export. Exported units earn a fixed 11 cents each, set by the regulator CERA, while imported units are charged at the normal retail rate of about 27 to 30 cents. It replaced net metering for all new systems on 1 January 2026.

Can I still get net metering in Cyprus?

Not for a new system. Net metering closed to new applicants on 31 December 2025. Existing net metering contracts continue unchanged for their full term, which is typically fifteen years.

Is solar still worth it in Cyprus under net billing?

Yes, but the design matters more than it used to. Under net metering the size of the system was what counted. Under net billing the return depends on how much of your own solar you use as you make it, because that is worth about 27 cents a unit against 11 for anything exported.

Do I need a battery with net billing in Cyprus?

Not necessarily. A battery adds about 16 cents of value to each unit it shifts from export into evening use, and it can store midday solar that would otherwise be switched off. It also adds to the upfront cost, so it pays best in homes that use most of their electricity after dark or whose panels produce well above what they use at midday.

Explainer

Net billing: what your panels earn now

Published 19 September 2026 · Last updated 19 September 2026 · Six minute read

Until the end of 2025, a home with solar panels in Cyprus was on net metering. Every unit you sent to the grid cancelled out a unit you took back later, one for one. Since 1 January 2026 that scheme is closed to new systems, and every new installation runs on net billing.

How net billing works

Your panels make electricity during the day. Whatever your home uses at that moment costs you nothing. Anything left over goes to the grid, and EAC credits you a fixed 11 cents for each unit. The regulator, CERA, sets that price in Regulatory Decision 112/2023.¹

In the evening, when the panels stop, you buy electricity from EAC at the normal price. On a typical household bill today, that comes to around 27 to 30 cents a unit once the fuel adjustment and VAT are included.²

A sunny day with solar

Electricity per hour, typical home with 3 kW of panels

Used from your panelsSent to the gridSwitched off by the gridBought from EACWhat your home uses

A sunny day. From about 7am the panels cover the home. The surplus around midday goes to the grid at 11 cents a unit, apart from the orange strip at the top, about a quarter of it, which the grid switches off and pays nothing for. From early evening the home buys from EAC at about 27 cents. Tap or hover over the chart to see each hour.

See what your own roof would earn. Try the calculator. It takes less than a minute.

Why this changes what solar is worth

Under net metering, the size of your system was what mattered most. Under net billing, a unit you use yourself saves you about 27 cents, and a unit you send to the grid earns 11. The most valuable solar is the solar you use while the sun is up.

Two things follow. A system sized to roughly match what your home uses in a year pays back faster than an oversized one. And running the washing machine, water heater and air-con during the day makes every panel work harder.

What happens to a unit your panels make	What it is worth
Used in your home as it is made	About 27 cents saved
Sent to the grid	11 cents earned
Switched off by the grid	Nothing
Stored in a battery, used after dark	About 27 cents saved

The grid is now switching solar off

Cyprus now makes more solar at midday than it can use, and the grid operator switches the surplus off. In the first five months of 2026 that reached 65% of the island's solar output, and household systems are now included, in rotating groups with no warning and no compensation.³

For a home on net billing, the solar the grid refuses earns nothing. It is the part of your day you were counting on for the 11 cent credit.

How much solar the grid is switching off, and what it costs you →

Adding a battery

A battery stores the solar you do not use during the day, so you can use it in the evening instead of buying from EAC. It can also store midday solar that would otherwise be exported or switched off. How a battery system behaves during a curtailment signal depends on the equipment, so ask your installer.

A unit you store and use after dark saves about 27 cents, against the 11 cents it would have earned on the grid. So a battery adds roughly 16 cents to every unit it moves into the evening.

Whether that pays depends on your home.

The same day, with a battery

Electricity per hour, typical home with 3 kW of panels

Used from your panelsStored in your battery, used after darkBought from EAC

The same sunny day with a battery. The spare solar at midday fills the battery instead of being exported at 11 cents or switched off for nothing, and the battery powers the home from late afternoon until about 10pm, replacing electricity that would have cost about 27 cents a unit.

What about grants

The €1,500 household grant closed with net metering. As of September 2026, no simple solar grant is open. A new scheme for renovating pre-2008 homes is expected to open soon, and a battery subsidy has been announced without dates. Our calculator leaves grants out, so any grant that arrives is a bonus.⁴

See your own numbers

Your estimate now shows how much of your solar the grid would switch off, and how much a battery would rescue. It takes less than a minute, using current EAC tariffs.

See my savings

Keep reading

Data

The grid is switching off your solar

Cyprus switched off 65% of its potential solar output in early 2026, and homes were cut off up to 17 times a month. What it costs you, and what reduces it.

19 September 2026 · 7 minute read

References

Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA), Report 04/2018 as amended by Regulatory Decision No. 112/2023, which fixes the price for exported solar at 11 cents per kWh. CERA (PDF, in Greek). Explained in English by Cyprus Mail, 3 September 2026. Read the article
EAC domestic tariff sheet, Tariff 01, from 20 March 2026. EAC (PDF)
TSOC dispatch data analysed by CyprusGrid, reported by pv magazine: 14 February 2025, 13 January 2026 and 15 June 2026. Cyprus Mail, 30 August 2026.
Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Save and Upgrade Homes grant scheme 2026. gov.cy

This article is provided for information only and is not financial advice. Figures are estimates based on published EAC tariffs and typical household patterns; your own result will differ. Switch is not responsible for decisions made in reliance on it.