What is solar curtailment?

Curtailment is when the grid operator orders solar systems to stop producing because the network cannot absorb the electricity. In Cyprus it happens around midday, when solar output is high and demand is low. The electricity that would have been produced is lost, and nobody pays for it.

When is curtailment worst in Cyprus?

Spring and autumn. The sun is strong, but electricity demand is low because few homes are running air conditioning. Summer produces more solar but less curtailment, because air conditioning absorbs much of the midday surplus.

Will the grid switch off my home solar system?

It can. Household systems in Cyprus are curtailed in rotating groups alongside large solar parks, with no advance warning and no compensation for the energy lost. In spring 2026 some groups were cut off every other day.

Do I lose money when my solar is curtailed?

Yes. Homes in Cyprus are curtailed with a ripple control signal, which switches a solar system off completely for the length of the cut-off. You lose the 11 cent credit on anything you would have exported, and your home buys what it uses from EAC at about 27 cents until the cut-off ends. Owners can apply for occasional zero injection, which stops only the export and keeps the home running on its own solar.

Does a battery stop curtailment?

The grid can still curtail a home that has a battery. What a battery changes is what happens to your midday surplus: it charges the battery and runs the house after dark, where it saves about 27 cents a unit instead of earning 11 on the grid. How a battery system behaves during a curtailment signal depends on the equipment and how it is wired, so ask your installer to confirm it before you buy.

Data

The grid is switching off your solar

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

Cyprus makes more solar at midday than it can use. When that happens, the grid operator switches solar off, and since 2025 that has reached homes on a large scale.

If you have panels, or you are thinking about them, this is the part of the picture that has changed fastest and is discussed least.

How much solar is being switched off

In 2022 Cyprus switched off 3.3% of its renewable output. In 2023 it was 13.4%, and in 2024 it was 29%.¹ In 2025 the grid switched off 47% of the island's solar output.² In the first five months of 2026 it passed 65%.³

These are measured figures, from the grid operator's own dispatch data.

How much solar the grid switched off, by year

Share of solar output switched off in Cyprus

The share of Cyprus solar output the grid switched off: 3.3% in 2022, 13.4% in 2023, 29% in 2024, 47% in 2025 and over 65% in January to May 2026. The figures for 2022 to 2024 cover all renewables, most of which is solar. Tap or hover over a bar to see its value.

See how much of your solar the grid would switch off. Try the calculator. It takes less than a minute.

Why it happens

Cyprus is an island. Its grid has no cable to a neighbouring country to send a surplus to, and very little storage to hold one.

At midday in spring and autumn, solar output is high and demand is low, because few homes are running air conditioning. The grid has more electricity than the island needs, so solar is switched off.

The worst days are the mild, sunny ones, and in 2025 the worst month of all was March.²

The same home in April and July

Average day, typical Nicosia home with 2 kW of panels, Switch model

Used from your panelsSpare solar, sent to the gridBought from EACWhat your home uses

A mild day in April

A hot day in July

Panels make a whole day's electricity in about six hours, so the midday peak always stands well above the evening one. In April the panels make about 9.8 kWh on an average day and the home uses 5.0 kWh, so about 80% of the solar is spare and goes to the grid. In July the panels make about 10.6 kWh and the home uses 12.1 kWh, much of it for air conditioning, and the spare share falls to about 58%. Across the island, that difference in demand is why curtailment peaks in spring and autumn. Tap or hover over either chart to see each hour.

It now reaches homes

Until 2024, curtailment mostly hit the large solar parks. It now reaches households.

Home systems are switched off in rotating groups, with no warning and no compensation.⁴ Between 4 April and 4 May 2026, groups were cut off 15 to 17 times each, roughly every other day.⁴

The amount cut from homes and small systems grew about twenty-fold in a year, from 1,565 MWh in 2024 to 30,180 MWh in 2025. In the first five months of 2026 it reached 46,687 MWh, more than in the whole of 2025.³

Homes are still a small share of the total. About a tenth of the solar switched off in 2025 came from homes, and the large parks carried the rest.²

You will not get a letter about it. On the days it happens, your panels simply stop, and nothing on your bill explains why.

What it costs you

Under net billing, every unit your panels make is worth one of four things.

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

Curtailment moves units into the nothing row.

Homes in Cyprus are curtailed with a ripple control signal, which switches a solar system off completely.³ On a system with panels only, that makes a cut-off cost you twice.

What reduces it

Use more of your solar as you make it. Run the washing machine, dishwasher, water heater and pool pump in the middle of the day. On days without a cut-off, every unit you use as it is made saves about 27 cents, more than twice the 11 cents an exported unit earns.

Size the system to what your home uses. Under net metering, a bigger system was always better. Under net billing, the extra output of an oversized system earns 11 cents at best, and nothing on the days the grid switches it off. A system matched to what you actually use pays back faster.

Ask for occasional zero injection. With this set-up, a curtailment signal stops your export and your home keeps running on its own solar. Converting an existing system costs up to €500.⁴

Ask how your battery handles a cut-off. A battery moves midday solar into the evening, where each unit saves about 27 cents instead of earning 11. What it does during a curtailment signal depends on the system. Ask your installer whether your home keeps running on its own solar and battery during a cut-off. We will update this page when we have a clear answer.

What happens next

Cyprus is building grid-scale storage. Contracts for the first 120 MW of batteries, run by the transmission system operator, were signed in June 2026, and they are expected to start working in summer 2027.⁵

120 MW is a start. Storage projects totalling about 925 MW have applied to connect.⁵ Nobody has published how much the first batteries will reduce curtailment for homes, and anyone who tells you the problem is about to be solved is guessing.

We update this page when the numbers change.

See your own numbers

Your estimate 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

Explainer

Net billing: what your panels earn now

Since January 2026 every new solar system in Cyprus runs on net billing. A unit you use yourself saves about 27 cents, and a unit you export earns 11.

19 September 2026 · 6 minute read

References

TSOC dispatch data analysed by CyprusGrid, reported by pv magazine, 14 February 2025. Figures for 2022 to 2024 cover all renewables. Read the article
pv magazine, 13 January 2026, citing CyprusGrid: 47.44% of solar and biogas generation curtailed in 2025, March the worst month, residential PV 10% of curtailed energy. Read the article
pv magazine, 15 June 2026, citing CyprusGrid: over 65% of potential solar generation curtailed in January to May 2026, household and small-scale curtailment figures, and ripple control. Read the article
Cyprus Mail, 12 May 2026, on household cut-offs and zero injection. Read the article. Cyprus Mail, 30 August 2026, on warning and compensation. Read the article
Cyprus Mail, 23 June 2026, on the first storage contracts and applications. Read the article. Cyprus Mail, 12 July 2026. Read the article

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.