Feed-in charges: what you pay and how to limit them
5 min read below · SolarFast knowledge base
Feed-in charges for solar panels explained: why suppliers charge them, the forms they take, what the ACM checks and how to limit them.
Feed-in charges are costs your energy supplier bills for processing solar power you export to the grid. They are separate from the feed-in payment you receive, differ per supplier and are set out in your contract.
What are feed-in charges?
More and more energy suppliers charge households that export power to the grid. These feed-in charges are not a penalty on solar panels: according to the Dutch government (Dutch), they may only cover costs the supplier actually incurs to process your exported power. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) supervises those tariffs.
Why do they exist? On sunny afternoons many households export at the same time, while demand for power is low at that very moment. Processing and trading all that midday power costs suppliers money, and they pass it on to those who export. Whether your supplier does so, and at what rate, is in your contract.
Which forms do you encounter?
There is no standard form. In practice you see three variants, sometimes combined. We deliberately do not quote amounts here: they change per supplier and per year.
| Form | How it works | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed monthly amount | Often in brackets: the more you export per year, the higher your monthly amount | Check which bracket your annual export falls into |
| Amount per kWh | You pay per exported kilowatt-hour | Convert it to your annual export |
| Built into the tariffs | No separate line, but a lower feed-in payment or higher standing charge | Compare the whole picture, not just the charges line |
Which form and amount applies is in your contract. See also the ACM explanation of feeding back (Dutch).
Keeping charges, payment and net metering apart
Three arrangements interact on your annual bill and are easily confused. The net metering scheme offsets your export against your draw until the end of 2026. The feed-in payment is what your supplier pays for power you export beyond what you draw; from 1 January 2027, when net metering ends, that payment applies to all your exported power, with a legal floor of 50 percent of the bare supply rate until at least 2030. Feed-in charges are a separate cost item on top of that.
The payment itself may not be negative. But because payment and charges are separate items, exporting can yield little on balance once charges are deducted. So judge both lines on your annual bill together, not the payment alone.
How to limit feed-in charges
The core is simple: the less power you export, the less you notice these charges. And the power you use yourself instead of exporting, you also do not have to buy. There are three routes, and they reinforce each other.
First: shift usage to the solar hours. Run the washing machine, dishwasher or EV charger during the day instead of the evening. How to do that smartly, including automatically, is covered in smart home energy management.
Next: store your surplus. A home battery keeps your midday surplus for the evening, cutting your export substantially. Whether that pays off depends on your usage pattern; we weigh it up in the comparison with or without a home battery.
Finally: compare contracts on the whole picture. One supplier uses brackets, another a per-kWh rate or a lower payment. Weigh feed-in charges and the feed-in payment together, and check whether a fixed or dynamic energy contract suits your generation better.
What SolarFast looks at
Our quotes do not assume that exporting earns money. We look at what you can use yourself: how much of your generation you consume directly, whether a battery meaningfully raises that share and whether your inverter is ready for it. That way the maths hold up, even as tariffs and feed-in charges change.
Want to know how to minimise feed-in charges with your usage? Put your situation to us and we will take a look.
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Frequently asked questions
What are feed-in charges?
Costs your energy supplier bills for processing power you export to the grid. They are in your contract and differ per supplier, both in form and in amount.
Is my supplier allowed to charge feed-in charges?
Yes, it is allowed. They may only cover costs the supplier incurs to process exported power, and the ACM supervises whether those tariffs are reasonable.
How high are feed-in charges?
That differs per supplier and per form: a monthly amount in brackets, a rate per exported kWh, or built into the payment. The current amount is in your contract; we deliberately quote no figures here because they date quickly.
Will I still pay feed-in charges after 2027?
Possibly. Feed-in charges are separate from the net metering scheme, which ends on 1 January 2027. From then you receive a payment of at least 50 percent of the bare supply rate for all your export (until at least 2030), but your supplier may still charge feed-in costs on top.
Can the feed-in payment be negative?
No, the payment itself may not be negative. Feed-in charges are a separate item though; on balance, exporting can therefore yield little. Judge both lines on your annual bill together.
How do I avoid feed-in charges?
Avoiding them entirely is usually not possible, limiting them is: use more power while your panels generate, store your surplus in a home battery and compare contracts on the combination of payment and charges.
We apply this every day
The same knowledge you're reading here, we put to work for households across the Netherlands.