The Dutch government will give households and businesses with solar panels money back for excess energy that they put back into the network for another four years.

Energy minister Erik Wiebes has announced that a perk for solar panel owners will be extended for an extra three years, reports the NOS.

Now these owners will be able to get deductions from their own energy bills – effectively a repayment – for the excess energy that they put back into the system.

The aim is that they can recoup the costs of investing in the solar energy devices within seven years, while also taking advantage of a national fund offering low-interest loans. From 2023 until 2031, this payment perk will be gradually removed.

The association for renewable energy companies, the NVDE, said the ruling would continue to make sun panels ‘really attractive to people’ and expects the uptake to grow.

‘This is good news for the growth of sustainable energy and in supporting the energy transition [away from fossil fuels],’ it said in a press release.

The Netherlands is under pressure to increase ‘green’ energy, as a controversial climate agreement agreed in December may not cut its carbon equivalent emissions enough to meet its targets. Urgenda, a group of environmental activists, won a court case against the state last year in an attempt to make it do more.

But voters’ widespread concern about the personal cost of mitigating climate change is thought to have played a role in the success of the climate change sceptic party, the Forum for Democracy in last month’s regional elections