Anyone who has recently planned a solar panel investment has probably already faced the dilemma: is it better with the 50% family home renovation subsidy AND Gross settlement, or rather on your own, with the well-proven Szaldo?
To answer this question, it is first of all worth knowing what the two types of systems mean, so let's review them briefly.
THE Balance sheet (or net) type – otherwise unprecedented in Europe – settlementt was invented so that solar panel owners have the opportunity for free to use the electrical grid as storage for their own production equipment.
THE The essence of a balance sheet in short it is that in the period between the annual milestones of our network contract the electricity we consume and the electricity we produce are billed at the same price, i.e. if we produce as much as we consume in 365 days, we do not have to pay for electricity, apart from a minimum basic fee.
This is an extremely beneficial system, since solar panels mostly do not produce energy exactly when we need it, just think of lighting or electric heating, which we use much more in the winter months than in the sunny summers.
THE Szaldo type settlementthose who dreamed up this regulation came up with the idea of spreading solar energy as a carbon footprint-reducing technology faster (faster) at a time when solar systems were more expensive and less efficient, and there were also few of them.
Nowadays, when the price of the systems is constantly falling, their performance is increasing, and a lot of these small power plants using the network are clinging to the network, it is logical that even less support will be enough to encourage investment, and sooner or later limits will have to be set for new entrants, because it is very good the solar panel is a thing, but from the power plant and network side, it also poses a lot of challenges for those whose daily task is to maintain the delicate balance of the electricity system.
In order to alleviate the technical difficulties foreseen for a long time and to reduce the cost burden of the support, the following was announced: Until the end of 2023, it is only possible to conclude a contract with a balance, but whoever enters until now, it may remain among the beneficiaries until the end of the functionality of its authorized system.
The elimination of the Szaldó system naturally necessitates the introduction of a new system, and this is the so-called It was given the first name of gross settlement.
THE Gross system similar to Saldó refers to an annual period, however, differs in the essential point that the balance settlement not in energy (i.e. in kilowatt-hours, kWh), but in its value expressed in forints. This in itself would not be a big change if the price of electricity purchased and fed to the grid were the same, but of course this is not the case (it will be).
THE announced tariff difference according to the current situation, it will be nothing more than system usage fee proportional to consumptionthe totality of those that otherwise constitute a significant item in the electricity bill of utility customers.
In practice, as a gross customer, this will mean that if our solar system is currently producing, but we are not consuming, because, say, we are not at home in nice sunny weather, then feeding into the grid at the current electricity price - e.g. It is calculated for HUF 14, while if we buy from the network after sunset, after returning from work, this will be included in our annual balance at the usual universal price of around HUF 37.
So it can be seen that the Gross settlementin - following the logic of the balance - then we would know in principle zero electricity billt do if…
- just then and so much we consume away when and how much the solar panel producesand our system, or
- proportionately so we are building a bigger system, as much as the difference between the transfer and acceptance tariffs, or
- ourselves we take care of the produced electricity temporary storage.
Perhaps we feel that the first two options are not really realistic, since we are either forced to significantly limit our consumption habits, or we have to build a significantly larger system, which in turn is a valuable investment whose payback would be very long, that is, almost doubtful.
The third option - although, similar to the first two, it sounds utopian - in fact the near futuret, since some of the inverters on the market (e.g. all HUAWEI products and certain types of Fronius inverters) are already to receive a battery are also suitable, and in the meantime there are continuous developments in the background, in price while increasingly availablehousehold, high-performance battery packs are starting to become popular, so household storage systems will soon make economic sense.
THE Gross settlement, as an "incentive", one of the fundamental difficulties is that its financial return is difficult to calculate, as future electricity prices must be taken into account in the formula. But even if we try to find out the future using certain assumptions that we think are realistic, our magic ball is next to the current system prices roughly double the duration compared to a net contractot predicts the conditions under which the number of gross contracts concluded in the future would probably approach zero.
The new family allowance is an excellent supporter and lifeline of the introduction of Gross settlement
He came at the right time so the 50% state housing renovation subsidy (only a little early compared to the development of the Gross settlement, thanks to which the really big winners of the domestic solar era will be those who, thanks to the favorable position of the stars, will be able to conclude a network contract between January 1 and June 30, 2021, because they will be entitled to a non-refundable support and balance settlement - but this is already another, short and perhaps somewhat strange chapter in the domestic solar history), since by using this statistically the return can be roughly brought to the break-even level, but while the balance settlement is quite flexible, you have to pay attention to many individual factors in the gross, which if you forget to do, it can cause great disappointment later on.
Below we have tried to summarize in which basic cases we think it is worth building a solar panel with the Gross settlement in addition to the 50% subsidy, and in which cases it is better to stay in the Balance.
Who will benefit from the Gross Settlement?
- First of all: you are entitled to the family home renovation grant.
- Someone who spends a lot of time at home during the day, and thus their consumption partly coincides with the production of their solar panels.
- He considers it important that he needs to invest less capital in his solar system, and that he can also finance the installation on his own or with a very discounted loan (e.g. CIB Bank applicable product).
- Those who heat with gas, but often air-condition their property in hot weather.
- Anyone planning to add a battery to their system sooner or later.
Who should continue to think about Szaldo?
- You are rarely at home during the day, and because of this, your production and consumption largely do not fall into one period.
- You have electric heating and you want to cover it with solar panels (electric boiler, heat pump, infrared panel)
- You are not entitled to a family home renovation grant.
- Expect a more predictable return.
The good news for those who are not entitled to support, or for whom the gross settlement is disadvantageous, is that contracts with a balance can still be concluded until the end of 2023!
If you liked our article, please share it with your friends!
English 
Hungarian