Buying a house with solar panels? What changes in 2027

Buying a house with solar panels? Do not assume you will make the same annual savings as the seller. Their savings depend on their energy contract and when they use electricity. Ask how much electricity the panels generate instead, then work out what that means for you.

What changes on 1 January 2027?

Until the end of 2026, you can offset electricity exported to the grid against electricity you buy at another time. This is called salderen, or net metering. The statutory net metering scheme ends on 1 January 2027. That also applies to panels that have been on the roof for years.

Your own energy contract is a separate matter. After that date, your supplier no longer has a statutory obligation to offer net metering, but a contract running across the year end may contain its own arrangements. Check what yours says. It is the contract you take out for that address that matters, rather than the seller’s.

From 2027, when you use electricity matters

If you use solar electricity as it is generated, you save the full rate you would otherwise pay for that electricity, including energy tax and VAT. If you export it, the payment depends on your energy contract. Export charges are deducted from that.

If the same energy supplier handles both your imports and exports, the export payment must be at least 50% of the basic supply rate until 1 January 2030. That rate excludes energy tax and VAT. This minimum does not apply if different companies handle your imports and exports. The payment must still be reasonable and cannot be negative when averaged over a month.

Your supplier can charge for handling electricity you export to the grid. Those charges can exceed the payment itself. Check both amounts in your contract.

At home during the day? The same roof can save you more

The electricity you use directly accounts for the largest part of your return. Your daily routine helps determine how much you use as it is generated.

Across the Netherlands, households with solar panels use about 30% of their solar electricity directly. Treat that as a general guide. Your own share depends on when you use electricity.

Working from home, charging a car during the day or using a heat pump can affect that share. Look at when those appliances use electricity. If you are out during the day and use little electricity then, you export more. The seller’s routine is therefore no guide to yours, even with the same panels.

Ask the seller these questions before you bid

Ask the seller or estate agent how much electricity the panels generate each year. Ask for the inverter data showing total generation too.

The smart meter does not tell you how much electricity the panels generate in total. It records what enters and leaves the house. Solar electricity the seller uses directly does not pass through it. The export reading therefore only shows what remains after that direct use.

The inverter does record total generation: what the roof produces, regardless of who lives there. Its counter is not certified for metering accuracy and starts again when the inverter is replaced, so ask when it began recording.

Do not use the seller’s savings in euros as your own expected savings. That amount reflects their energy contract and daily routine.

Also ask what year the panels date from, what warranty they have and how old the inverter is. The inverter has a shorter lifespan than the panels, so an older system will need a replacement within the period you are calculating for.

Do not rely on the building survey to cover this. Its scope varies between firms, it is a visual inspection and solar panels are not included as standard. Ask beforehand whether they will be checked. The viewing checklist explains what to look at yourself during a viewing.

The energy label tells you something different from the panels and may predate their installation. Our article on energy labels explains where to check it.

Comparing two offers is harder than it looks

Since 1 January 2026, the standard model contract every supplier must offer has calculated export charges per kilowatt-hour exported. Outside that contract, suppliers calculate them in different ways, such as a fixed monthly charge.

When comparing two offers, look at the export payment and charges together. Neither figure tells you much on its own.

Your completion date does not change the statutory end date

Completing earlier does not preserve the statutory scheme for you. The law has no transitional arrangement or date you can choose: the scheme ends on 1 January 2027, however early you complete.

If you become the owner in November, you can still use net metering for the weeks until the new year, provided your electricity supply contract is already active at that address. What you receive after that depends on the contract, rather than your completion date.

Other changes in 2027 do depend on a different date. The Prinsjesdag 2026 overview explains the changes to transfer tax and the startersvrijstelling, the transfer tax exemption for eligible young buyers, and which date determines the rules that apply.

If you plan to improve the home’s energy efficiency after buying it, the heat pump subsidy and the NHG rule for homes with energy labels E, F or G each have their own relevant dates. NHG is the Nationale Hypotheek Garantie, the Dutch national mortgage guarantee scheme. Those dates are set out in the article on energy improvements in 2027.

What to do now for this property

• Ask for the roof’s annual generation in kilowatt-hours, rather than savings in euros.
• Find the export payment and export charges in your own energy contract, and check whether the same company handles imports and exports.
• Estimate how much of the electricity you would use as it is generated. That share accounts for the largest part of your return.

This article reflects the position on 1 October 2026.