The new grant paid for solar only if you energy-upgraded your home.
Applications for "Save and Upgrade in Homes" opened on Tuesday 20 October 2026, with a budget of €20,000,000.2 The scheme is for homes connected to the grid up to 2008 and pays for both solar panels and a battery. It pays for them only as part of an energy upgrade that cuts the home's primary energy use by at least 60%.3
Who qualifies
- Ownership. The home is owned by a private individual, with an electricity bill on a domestic tariff in a private individual's name. Companies do not qualify, and neither does a home a company uses.3
- A home from up to 2008. First connected to the grid on or before 1 January 2008, or a planning or building permit applied for before 21 December 2007.
- No income test. A holiday home qualifies too, as long as you live permanently in Cyprus.4
- Tenants. You apply with the owner's agreement.
- After the payment. For 5 years the home is used only for living in and is not rented to a company.3
- Higher grant. It goes to vulnerable consumers, people living in mountain areas and displaced people on refugee estates, for the home they live in permanently.
The 60% rule and the energy certificate
The saving is measured with two Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), one before the works and one after. The first is issued by a qualified expert on or after 15 May 2026. At least one of the works must be on the building's envelope, meaning roof or exposed-floor insulation, wall insulation or new windows.3
The grant goes up to €24,000 per home, or up to €32,000 if the home becomes a nearly zero-energy building. Each item has a fixed grant amount, whatever the installer's price, so you need no quotes to apply.
What you get for solar and a battery
The scheme funds solar panels of up to 10 kW on a net billing contract and a battery that stores their energy. Net metering systems are not eligible.3
| Item | Standard grant | Higher grant |
|---|---|---|
| Solar, up to 10 kW | €450 per kW | €1,000 per kW |
| Battery, up to 4 kWh | €720 per kWh | €960 per kWh |
| Battery, at most | €2,880 | €3,840 |
Based on the sample application form, at most 4 kWh of battery is funded per home.5
Solar is funded only if the same application also includes roof or exposed-floor insulation, wall insulation, new windows or a heat pump. The Ministry made this clear on 5 October 2026.6 In the Ministry's Example 6, an application with solar alone is refused, even with a 61% saving.7
The panels must be fitted by an installer on the register of small-scale RES installers.3
An example with numbers
Take a 120 m² single-storey house, connected to the grid in 1995, with the works in the table. We assume the expert finds a saving of at least 60%.3
| Item | Quantity | Grant |
|---|---|---|
| Roof insulation | 120 m² × €30 | €3,600 |
| New windows | 20 m² × €200 | €4,000 |
| Heat pump | 1 × €3,225 | €3,225 |
| Solar panels | 5 kW × €450 | €2,250 |
| Battery | 4 kWh × €720 | €2,880 |
| Energy certificate | 120 m² × €3.75 | €450 |
| Total | €16,405 |
The grant for the solar panels and battery is €5,130, about a third of the total. With the higher grant, the same home gets €23,840.
See what solar would save your own home. Try our calculator. It takes less than a minute.Is a battery worth it under today's net billing?
Under EAC's net billing contract today, the energy you send to the grid is netted against what you take from it in the same billing period. So today, in a normal area, a battery barely changes the saving. How net billing works today →
In a congested area, though, new systems connect with permanent zero export, meaning they are as a rule not allowed to send energy to the grid. Without a battery, the energy you do not use as it is produced is lost, more than half the solar output in an example from our calculator. There the battery saves most of it and almost doubles the saving. Without a grant, in the same example, a 5 kWh battery does not earn back its cost within 15 years. With the €2,880 grant it does. The battery also helps when you want back-up during a power cut. On the indicative map of EAC's DSO, 21 of the 52 areas show as congested. Where you may not be able to export →
The steps, in order
- An energy certificate from an expert. The expert proposes the works that reach 60%. You pay the expert, and the grant covers €3.75 per m², or €5 with the higher grant. If the application is not made or is refused, you get nothing for the certificate.
- Apply. Applications were made online at fundingapps.meci.gov.cy, through the Ariadne portal. Submission has closed, because applications exceeded the budget. Applications are assessed in the order they were submitted, and you cannot change items after applying.2
- Works and the final certificate. You finish them within 12 months of the approval letter, extendable by up to 6 months.3
- Payment. You claim payment within 1 month of the deadline passing. The guide mentions no advance payment, so you pay first.
Works done before the first certificate are not funded.7 You can start works after the first certificate and before applying, at your own risk, as long as you do not finish all of them before you apply.2 The scheme's helpline is 17107.
What is still unclear
- A bigger battery. The guide does not say whether you can fit a battery bigger than 4 kWh with only the 4 funded.
- A battery on solar you already have. The guide does not say whether it is funded.
- The deadline for the works. The guide counts the 12 months from the approval letter, while the FAQ counts them from signing the funding agreement.
- Congested areas. They are not mentioned anywhere in the scheme.
See your own numbers
Our calculator shows what you would save with solar, with or without a battery, on EAC's electricity tariffs today. It leaves grants out.
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
- Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, announcements on "Save and Upgrade in Homes (2026)", 21 October 2026 and 22 October 2026 (in Greek).
- Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, "Save and Upgrade in Homes (2026)" grant scheme, call for applications, 30 September 2026. Ministry (PDF, in Greek)
- Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, the scheme's implementation guide, 3rd call (2026), version V4.05102026. Ministry (PDF, in Greek)
- Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, frequently asked questions on the scheme. Ministry (PDF, in Greek)
- Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, sample application form, table of eligible items. Ministry (PDF, in Greek)
- Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, clarification notice, 5 October 2026. Ministry (PDF, in Greek)
- Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, worked examples of homes. Ministry (PDF, in Greek)
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This article is provided for information only and is not financial or legal advice. The amounts and rules come from the documents of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry and may change. The example is illustrative. Switch is not responsible for decisions made in reliance on it.