How net billing works today for your solar panels.
For years, solar in Cyprus came with a simple promise. The electricity your panels sent to the grid came back to you later, unit for unit, as though the grid were a battery that never filled up. That was net metering, and it closed to new systems on 31 December 2025.
For new systems, EAC Supply now offers its net billing contract, and the promise is different. Below we explain how it works today and what it means for the size of system worth installing.
How net billing works
Your panels make electricity all day, and your home uses as much as it needs at that moment. Those units cost you nothing. The energy left over flows to the grid.
On every bill, monthly or every two months, EAC nets the energy you sent to the grid against the energy you used from it. If you used more, you pay only the difference, at your normal tariff. If you sent more, the difference is credited in euros to your next bill, at the purchase price EAC Supply announces each month. In every month of 2026 up to September, that price was 11c a unit.1
Under the contract, any credit you haven't used by the yearly clearance, in October or November, is wiped. It is also wiped if you change supplier. The contract runs for a year and renews automatically.1
In the evening, when the panels stop, you buy electricity from EAC. On the October 2026 bills, each extra unit on Tariff 01 costs 31.9c, including the fuel adjustment and VAT.2
A sunny day with solar
Electricity per hour, typical home with 3 kW of panels
Why this changes what solar is worth
Under net metering, the most important thing was the size of the system, because every spare unit came back to you. Under net billing and a simple tariff such as 01, as long as you use at least as much from the grid as you send within a bill, every unit you send cuts your bill by almost as much as a unit you buy.
The difference shows in the surplus. Units left over at the end of the bill are credited at only 11c, and the credit is lost if you don't use it by the yearly clearance.1 A system much bigger than what you use produces exactly those units. That's why it pays to choose a system size close to what your home uses.
EAC's Distribution System Operator (DSO) sets the maximum size by your home's main fuse, and it goes up if you add a battery.3 How many panels you're allowed →
| What happens to a unit your panels make | What it is worth |
|---|---|
| Used in your home as it is made | 31.9c saved |
| Sent to the grid | Almost 31.9c. The surplus is credited at 11c |
| Switched off by the grid | Nothing |
| Stored in a battery | 31.9c saved |
On Tariff 01, October 2026 bills. A unit you send to the grid is netted against a unit you buy on the same bill, so it is worth almost as much as a unit you store.
The grid is now switching solar off
At midday, solar panels in Cyprus produce more energy than the grid can take, so the grid operator cuts the surplus. Home systems are now cut too, in rotation, in groups. According to the DSO, when a curtailment is for operational reasons, you are not entitled to compensation.
Without occasional zero export, a curtailment switches your whole system off. But if you applied in writing for occasional zero export and the DSO approved it, only your export stops first. Your home can then use the energy from its own panels.
How much solar the grid cuts and what it costs you →
How occasional zero export works →
Adding a battery
If your solar panels send energy to the grid, under today's Net Billing contract a battery does not save you more, because on every bill the energy you send at midday is already netted against what you buy in the evening. We calculated that a home in Nicosia actually saves €34 less a year if it adds a 5 kWh battery.
A congested area is one where the grid cannot take any more solar energy, so new solar usually connects only if it never sends energy to the grid. In such an area there is no netting, so a battery almost doubles the saving, but at today's battery prices you do not earn back what it costs within 15 years. A battery also helps if you want a bigger system, and if you add extra equipment, it powers the home during a power cut.
Is a home battery worth it today? →
What about grants?
The household solar grant, up to €1,500 in the general category, took applications until 20 December 2025. The 2026 "Save and Upgrade in Homes" scheme paid for solar and a battery only as part of an energy upgrade of a home connected to the grid up to 2008, and submission has closed, because applications exceeded the budget from the very first day. Our calculator leaves grants out, so any grant you get is an extra benefit.6 What the new grant pays and who qualifies →
See your own numbers
The calculator's estimate now shows how much of your solar the grid would switch off, and how much a battery would keep. It takes less than a minute and uses EAC's current tariffs.
If you have a smart meter, our guide to the EAC DSO portal shows you where to see, for every half hour, how much energy you send to the grid and how much electricity you use from it.
Keep reading
If you install solar without a battery in a congested area, you may lose more than half of its output.
In a congested area, new solar usually connects only if it never sends energy to the grid. In the example we worked out, a home without a battery loses 53.6% of its output. See how much the same home saves with a battery.
SolarIf your solar panels send energy to the grid, a battery does not save you more today.
If your solar panels send energy to the grid, under EAC's current Net Billing contract a battery does not save you more. See the calculator's figures and when a battery is worth considering.
SolarWith occasional zero export, you can use the power from your solar panels on curtailment days too.
With occasional zero export, a curtailment first stops only your export, and your home can keep using its own solar. You apply in writing to EAC's DSO and pay for the equipment; the DSO can still cut production off.
References
- EAC Supply, Net Billing contract, version 6 (August 2026), clauses 6.1 and 7.1. EAC (in Greek)
- EAC, Domestic Use Tariffs, Tariff 01, issued March 2026, applying from 1 May 2026, used for the October 2026 bills. EAC (PDF)
- EAC's DSO, Connection Guide for Active Customers and Self-Consumers, 15 May 2026, section 4.1. EAC (PDF, in Greek)
- 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.
- EAC's DSO and TSOC, Renewable Energy Hosting Capacity Map, data as of 27 October 2026. EAC map
- Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, "Save and Upgrade in Homes (2026)" grant scheme. gov.cy
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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.