The Dutch Solar Energy Association today welcomed the decision, admitting that the current scheme is "no longer sustainable".

The Dutch Solar Energy Association urged the new cabinet to adopt incentives to encourage the self-use of photovoltaic power to maintain the economic benefits of solar applications. The Dutch Solar Association also called for the development of "incentives and standards" to increase household energy storage solutions, such as battery energy storage systems (BESS) or boilers.

Citing research by Dutch consulting firms CE Delft and TNO, the association said that if the average household uses 60 percent of its solar power, the economic incentives for adopting solar power will be almost the same as those under the net metering scheme. Currently, households with solar installations use an average of about 30 percent of their electricity generation.

The Dutch Solar Energy Association said in a statement that "households are increasingly faced with energy providers charging for access to the Internet in order to cover the rising costs of [net metering] schemes." The more electricity households feed into the grid, the higher those costs will be."

In addition, the association said that on sunny days, the high amount of electricity that net metering users feed into the grid can cause congestion and overload the system, and shifting to more household storage can reduce this risk.

The Dutch Solar Energy Association made a similar point in February when the Senate rejected a proposal to phase out net metering. The association said it "hopes to hold discussions with the government to find a solution to the low voltage grid congestion caused by net metering."

Over the past two decades, several countries have created favorable conditions for the adoption of solar energy. Now, these countries are shifting to a self-use model. According to the Dutch Solar Energy Association, nearly 75 percent of new solar power capacity in Germany is installed with batteries, thanks in part to subsidies that promote self-use. According to data released by the German Solar Industry Association in March last year, the installation of solar energy storage systems in Germany grew by 52% in 2022, due to high energy prices and a greater desire for independence from energy suppliers.

In the United States, California has adopted a similar model, with mixed results. The end of the popular Net Energy Metering (NEM)2.0 scheme in favour of net metered tariffs that encourage household storage has led to an increase in energy storage installations. Still, new solar installations overall have fallen sharply.

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