A dynamic contract with solar panels can be beneficial depending on several factors. A dynamic contract means that the price you pay for the energy your solar panels generate can vary based on various factors, such as the market price of energy at any given time.
The benefits of a dynamic contract include that you may receive a higher price for your energy during periods of high demand and lower prices during periods of low demand. This can result in a higher yield for your solar panels over their entire lifetime.
However, there are also some drawbacks to a dynamic contract. For example, if the market price of energy is very low at any given time, you may receive less money for your generated energy than you would like. In addition, it is important to note that a dynamic contract is not suitable for everyone and it is important to carefully consider the pros and cons of the contract before making a decision.
Netting
With both fixed and variable energy contracts, you can offset your annual consumption and generation against each other, so the electricity rate is not as important. If you feed more power back than you consume, the feed-in tariff is important to get a good price for that power. With a dynamic energy contract, the power rate is always relevant, because when you feed in, you are paid the prevailing power price, which may be lower than the rate you pay when you consume the power. Netting is done hourly and the taxes are netted on an annual basis up to the maximum of your consumption.
Summer and winter
During the spring and summer months, solar panels mainly produce a lot of electricity, which usually coincides with times when power prices are low because of a greater supply of green power. This can result in surplus power, for which you get a low price with a dynamic energy contract. In rare cases, the electricity price can even become negative and you have to pay for energy feed-in. However, this rarely happens because you still get the taxes back via netting. In winter, solar panels produce less electricity, while energy consumption is often higher, especially in extreme cases, such as when you use a heat pump to heat your home. This may result in a more expensive purchase of electricity.
In practice
Given the situations mentioned above, a normal energy contract (fixed or variable) seems more favorable in combination with solar panels. However, in practice, this may turn out differently. For example, in August 2022, energy prices were high, so you got a lot back for returned power. On the contrary, in the current winter, power prices are very low and on some days even zero during the night. As a result, with a dynamic contract, in certain situations you can get more back for your generated electricity per kWh than if you offset consumption and generation one-to-one. However, this is speculative, as power prices are constantly changing and next year’s situation may be different. So it is not unequivocal whether a dynamic contract is better or not. However, dynamic prices do bring more uncertainty.
