What net metering was
Net metering (συμψηφισμός μετρήσεων) let a home offset the electricity it drew from the grid against the surplus its panels sent back, one unit for one unit, at the retail price. It was simple and generous, and for years it made a well-sized rooftop system an easy decision in Cyprus.
It also had a cousin, virtual net metering, that let the offset apply across more than one meter, useful for farms and municipalities.
What net billing is
Under net billing, the value equation changes. The solar energy you consume the moment you generate it still saves you the full retail price, roughly €0.28 per kWh, among the highest in the EU. But the surplus you export is now bought back at a lower, wholesale-style rate, closer to €0.09 per kWh, set through your supplier arrangement rather than a single fixed national tariff.
The lesson is simple: under net billing, a unit you use yourself is worth about three times a unit you export.
That single fact reshapes good system design. The goal is no longer to export as much as possible. It is to use as much of your own solar as you can, which is where sizing, timing and storage come in.
Why storage suddenly matters
There is a second reason self-consumption now rules. Cyprus is an electrical island with no interconnection, and on sunny days the grid cannot absorb all the solar being produced. In 2025 the island curtailed close to half of its distributed renewable generation, meaning that power was simply thrown away, and residential solar was not exempt.
A battery sidesteps both problems at once. It stores your midday surplus and gives it back in the evening, so instead of exporting cheaply, or being curtailed entirely, you use your own energy at full retail value after the sun goes down.
Grants and the current scheme
Cyprus continues to support home solar through grant schemes, with enhanced help for vulnerable consumers, and storage has become central to qualifying. The exact amounts and application windows change from round to round, so rather than print a figure that may already be stale, we check what is open and what you qualify for at the time of your assessment.
What this means for you
If you already have net metering, keep it, it runs until your contract ends. If you are installing now, the system that pays is one sized for self-consumption, very often with a battery, and designed around how and when you actually use electricity. That is precisely the kind of system EcoSun has been building, and adapting to every rule change, since 2002.