Slashed French net metering rates boost residential battery storage demand

While the organizers of France’s BePositive energy transition trade fair, in Lyon in March, said the 2025 edition attracted 504 exhibitors and 27,570 professionals over three days, all talk in Hall 3 – the renewables section – centered on the drastic reduction in rates to be paid by grid companies for solar electricity.

The government published new “S21” rates – to be paid for excess solar electricity fed into the grid from systems up to 500 kWp in size – during the event.

For systems up to 9 kWp in scale, the self-consumption bonus has been halved, to €80 ($87.70)/kWp, having already been reduced 40% over the previous 12 months. The amount paid to sub-9 kWp solar generators for excess electricity they feed into the grid has fallen from €0.127/kWh to €0.04/kWh, with the new rates to take effect from March 28.

“We don’t know how individuals will react to this announcement, especially since the VAT reduction [on the purchase of solar arrays] to 5.5% will not take place until October,” said Bruno Rosec, president of the Collective for the Defense of Photovoltaics (CDPF) and an installer in the Finistère department of France. “Many of our colleagues are worried about the months to come.

That €0.04/kWh price for excess power from small solar arrays compares with an average electricity price in France of €0.2146/kWh.

“We must continue to communicate with the general public so that they don’t abandon the idea of ​​investing in solar energy,” said the Hello Watt renewable electricity supplier. The business said electricity prices will continue to rise because legislation setting a regulated price at which energy companies can purchase nuclear energy will end in 2026.

Hello Watt cited continuing price falls for solar and related equipment, adding, “Panel prices have fallen by more than 30% in one year. Today, you have to pay €7,000, €11,000, or €14,000, respectively, for a 3 kWp, 6 kWp, or 9 kWp installation.” The company said an electric vehicle (EV) fast charger costs around €1,500, and a battery between €4,000 and €8,000, depending on size.

Solar company Otovo said a 5 kWh battery, which cost around €3,045 in November 2021, would cost only €2,195 in December 2024, a price fall of 28%. “This cost reduction, combined with rising energy prices, is encouraging more and more homeowners to integrate batteries into their solar installations,” the company said.

As a result, installers have told pv magazine they have started to incorporate energy storage in their product ranges. One installer said, “The drop in S21 prices is boosting demand for residential storage. This week, I made four battery sales to individuals, that’s more than in the last two years.” That felt like a “turning point,” he said.

Maaty Bouanane, France manager at US inverter, energy storage, and EV charger maker Enphase Energy, said, “We’re encouraging our network of installers to move in this direction. An installer who has sold a photovoltaic system to a customer can come back to them with a battery, a hot water tank, or heat pump control system, or a charging station, which can boost their sales. We’ve also noticed that half of the [Enphase product] IQ EV Charger 2 electric vehicle charging stations activated in recent weeks have been on existing PV power plants.

While the CDPF backs the expansion of product ranges to include energy storage systems, it fears small installers may be left behind.

“It takes months to change a range,” said Floriane de Brabandère, spokesperson for the collective, which organized a march at the BePositive event. “Furthermore, you need to be financially sound, which is not the case for all installers. What we fear is that unfair competition will set in, to the benefit of large groups that will monopolize the market.”

The CDPF estimates 20,000 of France’s 67,000 direct and indirect solar sector jobs could be threatened by the new S21 rates.

From pv magazine France.