Last year, it is estimated that almost 29,000 people in Flanders paid for electricity that they generated with their solar panels, but did not consume. This is evident from a report by the Flemish Utility Regulator (VNR). Some paid their energy supplier all year round.
Kasper Nollet
Journalist at HLN
Source: Belga
Anyone who has solar panels and a digital meter in their home sells the electricity they generate that they do not use to an energy supplier. This is done via a return contract.
This usually yields money for families: an average of 107 euros per year in 2025. But with some variable contracts, this compensation risks becoming negative. And then families have to pay when they generate electricity and put it on the grid. Exactly that is happening more and more often, as the price report from the VNR (Flemish Utility Regulator) shows.
29,000 families had to pay
In concrete terms, in 84 variable contracts, families paid for the electricity they injected for at least one month.
And in 15 of those contracts, the price formula was so disadvantageous that an average family with solar panels had to pay for the injected electricity for the whole of 2025. It is estimated that almost 29,000 families would have paid for their return in 2025.
“That is a lot more than in 2024, but it still concerns a small part of all families with a digital meter,” the regulator notes.
Furthermore, almost three times fewer solar panels were installed in our country in 2025 than two years ago. For the reason for this, experts point to the disappearance of certain support measures and the fact that many people from whom you would expect this have already purchased their panels.