The sale of solar panels in the Netherlands has plummeted but home battery sales are climbing, according to a new trend report by DNE Research.

Based on current sales figures, some 72% fewer solar panels will be registered this year compared to 2023, when sales peaked, the report said. In total, researchers estimate 164,000 new solar panel installations will have been added this year, compared to half a million in 2023.

By contrast, home battery sales have increased to 90,000 this year, up 140% from 2024.

Both the fall in solar panel sales and the rise in battery sales are due to consumer uncertainty about government plans that may make solar panels less financially attractive, a DNE Research spokesman told news platform Nu.nl.

In 2027, the current scheme allowing households to offset the electricity they supply to the grid against what they use will be replaced by a fixed payment for every kilowatt hour (kWh). Solar panel owners will also have to pay to feed power back into the grid.

“The payback time will be longer, but solar energy will remain the cheapest option for those with panels because the generation of energy is free,” the spokesman said.

More than half of Dutch owner-occupied homes have solar panels and the market is far from saturated, Hanze University of Applied Sciences lecturer Martien Visser said.

“The other 50% of owner-occupiers still need panels, and the rental sector is also lagging behind,” he said. Less than a quarter of social housing has solar panels and just 10% of private rentals.

The increase in home battery sales is “logical”, DNE Research head researcher Hrvoje Medarac said. “You pay tax on the electricity you take from the grid, so you don’t have to pay as much if you have a battery and solar panels because you are storing energy for your own use.”