Why solar panels and batteries for shops and restaurants are sometimes an expensive mistake

Many retailers, fresh food stores and catering businesses want to become more sustainable and reduce energy costs. Solar panels on the roof and a battery to store electricity seem like attractive solutions. However, without a thorough analysis, such an investment can turn out to be an expensive mistake. The benefits are sometimes overestimated and the payback period longer than expected. In this article, you can read why solar panels and batteries do not pay off in every situation, what pitfalls there are – from poor energy profile analysis to changes in the net metering scheme and grid congestion – and how to make smart energy choices to avoid costly mistakes.

Risk: investing without insight into your energy profile

Without a good insight into the energy profile of your shop or restaurant, there is a risk that you will purchase expensive technology that yields little. Your energy profile shows when and how much electricity your company consumes over the day and year. This must match the generation profiles of solar panels, otherwise a lot of solar power will be lost or entered the grid for a low fee. For example, restaurants use a lot of energy in the evening (cooling, kitchen appliances, lighting during dinners), exactly at times when solar panels do not generate anything. Without a battery, most solar power is then fed back into the grid, and with a battery, that power must first be stored expensively for later use. In both cases, the payback period of the installation is longer than many entrepreneurs expect.

Providers sometimes respond to this with stories that are too rosy – promising high returns and short payback periods. Independent organizations increasingly warn against those promises:

If an installer comes up with a very short payback period, always have that calculation tested with an objective tool or by an expert. Don’t rely on nice talk alone – a wrong estimate can mean thousands of euros “in the negative”.

An important cause of disappointing results is a mismatch between generated solar power and consumption . Research shows that the ratio between the capacity of solar panels and the daily electricity consumption is a crucial factor for the payback period. In other words, if you install more panels than you use yourself on most days, this will result in too much surplus. That surplus has to be fed back or stored and then yields less. Without a detailed analysis of your consumption profile – for example with smart meters or an analysis and control platform – you run the risk of oversizing : expensive panels and batteries that are not put to good use most of the time.

Effect of net metering: now still beneficial, later a longer wait for payback

The Netherlands long had a generous net metering scheme for small users with solar panels. Here, the electricity you return to the grid may be deducted from the electricity you consume from the grid, at the same rate. This makes solar power surplus effectively worth the same as directly consumed electricity. Thanks to net metering, solar panels traditionally pay for themselves quickly – indicatively in about 7 to 8 years for many small users. This advantage also applied to small business users (like a store with a regular connection). A battery is financially less interesting in this situation, because with net metering you don’t need a battery to benefit: every unused kWh already gets reimbursed at full price. As long as net metering is in effect, a battery hardly saves extra on the energy bill – the extra generated energy is sold at the same price to your energy supplier. Purchasing an expensive battery while net metering still applies often leads to disappointment in the form of a long payback period.

However, the net metering scheme is being phased out and is expected to disappear entirely in 2027. After that, returned electricity earns only a lower feed-in compensation (indicatively a few cents per kWh) instead of the full kWh price – which stretches the payback period considerably:

The calculation models from the past are no longer valid. Installing before 2027 still gets you partial benefit, but as that benefit shrinks each year, the smart move is to maximize your own daytime use of solar power rather than lean on feed-in credit. A battery can help lift that self-consumption after net metering ends, but even then it rarely improves the payback time below what solar panels alone already offer.

Grid congestion: the full power grid as a hidden pitfall

In addition to the financial arrangements, the physical infrastructure also plays a role: the Dutch power grid suffers from grid congestion . Grid congestion means that the supply and demand of electricity at peak times are higher than the grid capacity can handle – as if there is a traffic jam on the electricity grid. This problem is becoming more common and could persist until at least 2030. Grid congestion can have various consequences for entrepreneurs: in some regions it is difficult to get a new or heavier power connection immediately, feed-in of large amounts of solar power can be limited, or you will have to deal with extra costs from the grid operator if you consume a lot at peak times.

Fortunately, in practice, small-scale users (standard connection up to 3x80A) are almost always allowed to feed in – currently, the grid operator cannot refuse feed-in to ordinary SME connections despite congestion. Still, grid congestion can affect you indirectly. For example, if you want to install a larger solar roof or expand your business with electric kitchens or charging stations or other electrifaction measures: you may need a heavier connection, but the full grids can delay or make that expansion more expensive. It is also possible that returned solar power is temporarily throttled in the event of an overload of the grid – this now happens mainly in large installations, but in some areas it could also affect smaller systems in the long term.

Battery storage is regularly mentioned as a (temporary) solution to grid congestion. In theory, a company battery can act as a buffer at your location: when your solar panels generate a lot while the grid is full, the battery stores the power instead of feeding it back. Later, for example in the evening or at a quieter time, that energy can be extracted from the battery for personal use or supplied to the grid. This protects the congested power grid during peaks. An entrepreneur who is experimenting with this is, for example, a farmer with a large solar roof who stores his excess afternoon power due to grid congestion. Similarly, an entrepreneur who wants to electrify (think of a transport company that wants to charge EVs) can sometimes not get the necessary grid connection due to congestion, and opt for a local battery as an interim solution.

The point is, however: buying a battery purely to work around grid congestion is an expensive measure that not every business can afford. Moreover, it often solves only part of the problem and the return is uncertain. Grid operators are working on grid reinforcement, but that requires time and multi-billion investments for at least the next decade. In the meantime, flexible consumption is being encouraged: spread your energy use as much as possible and preferably use it when supply is high (for example, in the afternoon on sunny days). Some grid operators also offer flex contracts where you get a fee if you can reduce your consumption or feed in at peak times. However, this requires active energy management.

For the average retailer or catering entrepreneur with a normal connection, grid congestion can indirectly cause the business case for solar panels to be less favourable. You may need to invest in more expensive smart inverters or protections, or face feed-in costs (some energy suppliers already charge feed-in costs per kWh, regardless of the tariff) . These kinds of developments reduce the efficiency of unrestricted feed-in. The good news is that small-scale users in the Netherlands retain their right to feed-in for the time being , but you would do well to familiarise yourself with the local situation. Check with your grid operator whether there are any bottlenecks in your region that could affect your installation. Sometimes there are regional subsidies or initiatives (such as neighbourhood batteries or smart grid projects) that can help circumvent congestion, but they are still in their infancy.

When does a battery make sense for an SME entrepreneur?

Given the high costs and uncertainties, a battery is currently mainly profitable under specific circumstances:

For a regular office building or a small retail company without the above profiles, an expensive battery will not be recouped for the time being. The purchase costs are high and the revenue model (savings and possible market income) is too uncertain to justify the investment. Analysts emphasize that a battery in 2025 is mainly suitable for companies that really benefit from power at peak times or can run autonomously in the event of a failure, and that this is still a limited group. As long as the investment remains large and alternatives (such as netting or reliable grid connections) exist, such a system does not (yet) make financial sense for most SMEs. However, there are alternatives such as a heat battery (e.g. storing heat in water or in the ground) that can be more profitable in certain cases for companies that mainly need heating.

Avoid an expensive mistake: make a thorough analysis

So how do you avoid falling into the trap of making the wrong sustainability investment? The core of the solution direction is analysis and customization. Five steps stand between you and an expensive mistake:

Know your numbers before investing. Don’t get carried away by fancy stories of quick green profits, but base decisions on data and sound advice.

Conclusion: customization pays off, blind entry does not

Solar panels and batteries can definitely contribute to more sustainable and self-sufficient shops and restaurants – but not rashly and not in every situation. It is understandable that entrepreneurs want to reduce their energy costs and at the same time strengthen their green image. The technology is available and is often presented as a “no-brainer”. However, we have seen that many factors play a role: from your own usage pattern to changing rules such as netting, from the state of the power grid to the reliability of the promises made by sellers. Without a thorough analysis, there is a risk of disappointment in which the investment will only pay for itself (much) later than hoped, or in the worst case almost not at all.

Prevent “sustainability” from becoming an expensive mistake. Investing in insight in advance – instead of blindly in panels or a battery – is key. Analyze your energy profile and show which solution really suits you. Don’t stare blindly at great payback stories from suppliers, but test them critically. Remember that the averages do not apply to everyone: one supermarket is not the other, and a café with mainly evening turnover has a completely different picture than a lunchroom during the day.

By planning smartly, using advisory schemes and staying informed of developments, you can make the right investment at the right time. Then solar panels and related techniques can pay for themselves, in euros and in sustainability, and you reduce the chance of having to conclude that your well-intentioned green investment was unfortunately a financial mistake. Ultimately, sustainability is not a race, but a process of sensible steps. And with the right step at the right time, you will reap the benefits and not the pears.