Net billing in Cyprus is the financial mechanism that pays you for the solar electricity your panels produce but you don’t use. It’s been the official scheme for new solar installations since 1 January 2026, when it replaced the older net metering program. If you’re installing solar panels now — or trying to understand how your new system gets compensated — this guide explains how net billing in Cyprus actually works, who can benefit, and how to design a system that pays back well.
The short version: Net billing in Cyprus pays you a wholesale rate for the surplus solar you export to the grid, and charges you the retail rate for the electricity you import. Because retail is higher than wholesale, you save the most by using your own solar in real time — ideally with a battery to shift daytime production into evening use. Designed correctly, a net billing system still pays back well, designed badly, it under-delivers.
Net billing in Cyprus is the official compensation scheme run by the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) and operated by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC). Under the scheme, your solar panels feed any surplus electricity into the EAC distribution network, and you receive a monetary credit for it in euros — at a wholesale market rate, not the retail rate you pay to buy electricity back.
That’s the core difference from the old net metering scheme. Net metering credited every exported kWh against a future imported kWh on a 1-for-1 basis, treating the grid as a free battery. Net billing in Cyprus separates the two flows: you sell exports at one (lower) price and buy imports at another (higher) price. Two separate calculations on your bill, settled in euros.
This is why self-consumption — using your own solar at the moment it’s generated — has become the most valuable way to use the energy your panels produce. Every kWh you consume directly is worth full retail price to you. Every kWh you export goes for the wholesale rate. The gap between those two numbers is what pays for a battery many times over.
1. You install a grid-connected solar system
Solar panels, an inverter, and a connection to the EAC network through a bi-directional meter that measures power going both ways. The system has to comply with EAC technical rules — including the new 2026 rules for battery storage in Cyprus if you include a battery (which we strongly recommend).
2. Your home or business uses solar in real time
When the sun is shining, your panels feed your loads first. Anything you’re using right then — air conditioning, appliances, EV charging, lighting — runs from your own solar instead of from the grid. This is the most valuable use of net billing in Cyprus, because every kWh you self-consume saves you the full retail electricity price.
3. Surplus solar charges the battery (if you have one)
If you’ve installed a solar battery, the daytime surplus charges it instead of being exported. In the evening, the battery discharges to cover your consumption — again, at full retail value. A correctly sized battery is the single biggest factor in how well net billing in Cyprus pays off for you.
4. Anything left over flows to the grid
Whatever you don’t use and don’t store flows out through the bi-directional meter and into the EAC distribution network. The EAC measures it precisely.
5. You’re paid for exports at the wholesale rate
The EAC credits your account in euros for the energy you exported, at a rate set by Cyprus’s competitive electricity market. This market launched on 1 October 2025, run by the Transmission System Operator. Producers and suppliers bid in 30-minute intervals to set the price — so the wholesale rate isn’t a single fixed number. It varies through the day based on supply and demand.
6. Your bill shows the difference
At the end of each billing cycle, your EAC bill shows two figures: the value of electricity you imported (at retail rates) and the value of what you exported (at wholesale rates). You pay or receive the difference. If you produced more in euro terms than you consumed, the credit carries forward to the next bill.
Net billing in Cyprus suits more people than you might think — but the economics work differently for each group.
Honestly, it depends on six things, and any installer who quotes a fixed return without looking at your bills is guessing:
This is why every quote we give for a net billing in Cyprus project starts with looking at your last 12 months of EAC bills. We can’t honestly tell you what the system will save you until we know what you actually consume and when.
One thing that’s important to understand: your wholesale export rate is no longer a fixed number set by CERA. Since the competitive electricity market launched in October 2025, prices are set every half hour through bidding by producers, suppliers and aggregators. The Transmission System Operator runs the market. CERA oversees the framework.
What does this mean in practice for net billing in Cyprus? Two things:
This is exactly why a battery has become essential under net billing in Cyprus. It captures the cheap midday surplus and either uses it for your own evening consumption (saving you retail price) or — for larger commercial systems — discharges it back into a grid that’s now paying premium prices for evening energy.
Here we have to be straight with you about something the press got ahead of itself on. In late 2025, government announcements suggested that homeowners installing solar with battery storage from January 2026 would qualify for new battery subsidies under the net billing framework. As of May 2026, the RES Fund website shows no support schemes currently open for applications. The PV grant programme that ran in 2024–2025 closed at year-end. A battery subsidy programme tied to net billing in Cyprus has been announced in principle but has not yet launched.
What this means in practice: don’t plan your project around a subsidy that isn’t currently available. Build the business case on what net billing in Cyprus pays you in real wholesale terms today, plus the savings from self-consumption. If a grant becomes available later, that’s a bonus on top — not the foundation of your investment. We track the current grant status and update it whenever schemes open or close.
The application process goes through the EAC and is part of the standard solar connection paperwork. Your installer normally handles it for you. Here’s what’s involved:
The whole process typically takes 6 to 12 weeks for a standard residential project. Most of that is regulatory time, not actual building work. Commercial and grouped projects take longer.
Send us your last EAC bills and we’ll model the numbers honestly — what to install, what it’ll save you, and the realistic payback time under the new rules.
Net billing in Cyprus isn’t worse than the old net metering — it’s just different. The new system rewards homeowners and businesses who think about when they use electricity, who pair their panels with a battery, and who size their system to match their real consumption. For people who can’t put solar on their own roof, virtual net billing in Cyprus opens up off-site installations using the same accounting framework.
The technology is mature, the rules are now clear, and the economics still work — they just work differently than they used to. Get in touch for a free, honest assessment of what net billing in Cyprus would do for your home, business or farm.
FAQ’s
Net metering (now closed for new applications) credited every kWh you exported on a 1-for-1 basis against a future imported kWh — a free swap. Net billing in Cyprus pays you a wholesale rate in euros for exports, and charges you the retail rate for imports, which are different numbers. The new scheme rewards self-consumption and battery storage rather than treating the grid as a free battery. For more on the policy transition itself, see our post about what changed in 2026.
The export rate is set by Cyprus’s competitive electricity market, which launched in October 2025 and prices electricity every half hour based on supply and demand. There’s no single fixed export rate. During sunny midday hours when solar production is high, wholesale prices can be very low. During evening peaks, especially in summer, wholesale prices can spike sharply. CERA oversees the framework. The actual return on your specific system depends on when it exports and what the market rate is at that moment.
Yes — and they should, because net billing is the only scheme available for new residential solar installations since 1 January 2026. The economics work best when you combine your solar with a battery, since that lets you use your own energy at full retail value rather than swapping it for cheaper wholesale credits. Homeowners with significant daytime electricity use (air conditioning, EV charging, pool pumps) benefit most.
The law doesn’t require one. But financially, a battery is what makes net billing in Cyprus pay off properly. Without storage, every kWh of surplus you export at lunchtime is one you re-buy at higher cost in the evening — and you lose the difference. A correctly sized battery captures that surplus and uses it later, keeping the value at retail level.
Yes. Many farmers and agricultural businesses across Cyprus use net billing to offset the cost of irrigation, greenhouse climate control, livestock watering and processing. Agricultural electricity demand mostly happens during daylight, which aligns naturally with solar production. This is one of the strongest commercial cases for net billing on the island right now, especially given the ongoing drought and rising electricity prices.
Yes — that’s exactly what net billing in Cyprus does. Surplus solar that you don’t consume directly and don’t store in a battery flows to the grid through your bi-directional meter, and you receive monetary credit on your EAC account at the wholesale market rate.
Existing net metering systems remain under their original contracts — they aren’t forced to switch. However, you can add a battery to an existing system to increase self-consumption and capture more value, regardless of which scheme you’re on. We can evaluate your current system and recommend the best upgrade path.
For maximum production from limited roof space, we typically specify high-efficiency HJT panels from manufacturers like Mingyang. Bifacial panels — which capture sunlight on both sides — are also a good choice for ground-mounted and certain rooftop installations. The right panel depends on your roof, your budget and your production target.
The EAC published its new technical rules for battery storage in April 2026. These set out exactly how a battery has to be wired, sized and protected to be compliant with the grid. Any installer working on a net billing Cyprus project should be following these rules to the letter.
Yes — and we strongly recommend it. The hybrid approach solar + battery + hybrid inverter or residential or commercial ESS is exactly what the new policy framework was designed to encourage. Storing your daytime surplus and discharging it in the evening keeps the value at full retail price rather than swapping it for wholesale. Browse our solar batteries and hybrid inverters for the equipment that pairs well with net billing.
As of May 2026, the RES Fund shows no support schemes currently open for applications. The PV grant scheme that ran in 2024–2025 closed at year-end. A battery subsidy tied to net billing in Cyprus has been announced in principle but has not yet launched. We update the current grant status on our residential battery storage page when schemes open or close.
The position changed in April 2026. Earlier in 2026, CERA confirmed grid operators could remotely limit or disconnect solar systems for grid-stability reasons, and curtailments became frequent. Then on 10 April 2026, Cyprus Parliament passed a law banning the disconnection of residential photovoltaic systems used for own-consumption. The ban applies to residential systems, not to commercial solar parks, and is implemented through “zero injection” capability — the system stops exporting to the grid but can still be used internally by the household. The practical implication is the same: a battery is still the smartest investment, because it captures the energy that would otherwise sit unused when your system is in zero-injection mode.
