Net-billing 2026 ceases to work as it did a year ago. April 2026 brought a record low price for the energy given to the grid by prosumers - just PLN 0.13 per kWh. At the same time, electricity from the grid costs more than PLN 1.20. This is a gulf that was not there a year ago. We explain what's happening with net-billing in 2026 and - more importantly - what you can do now.
What has actually happened to net-billing in 2026?
When net-billing started in 2022, the energy sold by prosumers to the grid was priced at close to market prices. In August 2022, in the midst of the European energy crisis, the RCEm rate even exceeded PLN 1/kWh - a golden moment for PV owners.
Since then, the rate has been falling steadily. In spring, when thousands of PV installations all over Poland are simultaneously producing energy in the sunny midday, prices on the power exchange spike downwards - and prosumers' remuneration also falls behind them. This year's May Day saw record negative spot prices for the first time in the history of the Polish power exchange.
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PLN 0.13 RCEm in April 2026 - historic low |
10× times less worth of energy sold vs. purchased |
1.20+ PLN this is what you pay for the kWh you buy from the grid |
To illustrate this: if your 8 kWp installation feeds 500 kWh per month back into the grid (a typical spring result in the absence of storage), you earn less than £65. The same energy, if you consumed it yourself, would save you over £600. The difference is 10-fold.
The trend is set to get worse. With thousands more PV installations connecting to the grid each year, spring and summer spot prices will increasingly fall to zero or below. RCEm at £0.10 and below is no longer science fiction, and the likely scenario for the next few years for the net-billing system.
What does your energy balance really look like?
Many PV owners look at the annual inverter report and think: «I produce 8 000 kWh, consume 5 000 kWh, I'm in the black». This is true - but only at the level of numbers. What matters in practice is when you produce and when you consume.
| Scenario | What do you do with the surplus | Value of 1 kWh |
|---|---|---|
| No warehouse, working from home | Autoconsumption ~50% | ~£1.20 |
| No storage, house empty during the day | Sale to network 70-80% | ~£0.13 |
| Energy storage 10 kWh + smart charging | Autoconsumption 80-90% | ~£1.20 |
| Dynamic tariff RCE + storage | Charging cheap, selling expensive | Arbitration top/bottom |
The conclusion is simple: Every kilowatt hour consumed on site is 10 times more valuable than that returned to the grid. This fundamentally changes the logic of photovoltaic investment in Poland and makes net-billing 2026 require a completely different strategy than just two years ago.
Net-billing 2026: three things you can do right now
Whether you have had the installation for a year or five years, there are concrete steps that will improve your balance sheet:
1. shift energy consumption to PV production hours
Dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, electric car charger - set them to run between 10:00 a 15:00. It costs nothing, and can reduce the amount of energy given back to the grid by 10-20%. Modern inverters (Huawei, SolarEdge) have applications with production forecasts - it is worth using them.
2. consider switching to a dynamic RCE tariff (instead of RCEm)
RCE's hourly tariff prices your energy at the rates of each specific hour - not according to a monthly average. During hours when your installation produces little (morning, evening) but market prices are higher, you can get 3-4 times more for your energy than during the midday peak of PV production. Without energy storage, however, this strategy is of limited use in the context of current net-billing.
3. Calculate whether energy storage will pay off faster now than it did a year ago
The paradox of net-billing 2026: the lower the RCEm, the faster the energy storage returns. Every kilowatt hour retained in storage instead of sent to the grid is a difference of more than £1. With 10 kWh storage charged and discharged once a day for 8 months of the year - that's more than £2,400 savings per year.
⚠ Important before purchasing a magazine
Not every warehouse is eligible for current subsidy programmes (the KPO transitional programme required investment until 31.10.2025, the planned NFOŚiGW target programme has not yet started). It is worth checking the current status of the subsidy before you buy - conditions change quickly. You can find out more about current subsidies at
National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.
What does this mean for someone planning an installation?
If you are just considering buying solar PV, 2026 requires a change in approach from what the advice books of three years ago advised. Today An installation designed without taking autoconsumption into account is a poorly designed installation.
- Don't buy installations hoping to make money from selling energy to the grid - is a model that has stopped working. The installation must be matched to your actual consumption and daytime profile
- Energy storage is nowadays not a luxury, but an essential element - especially if no one is home during the day, you have heat pump or are planning to buy an electric car
- Installation power counts differently - More power without storage means more energy given away for a pittance. Better optimised for autoconsumption than for peak production
Net-billing 2026 and the outlook for the Tri-City and Pomerania
Photovoltaic owners in Gdansk, Gdynia and the surrounding area have a special situation: shorter winters mean that spring and summer surpluses can be proportionally higher than in central Poland. At the same time, grid electricity prices in Pomerania are among the highest in Poland - which makes every kilowatt hour used on its own worth even more here.
If your installation is 4-6 kWp and you don't have storage, in spring and summer you're probably feeding half or more of what you produce back into the grid. It is this difference that is causing more and more PV owners in the region to consider extension of installations combined with energy storage.
Summary
The 2026 net-billing system in its current form is no longer viable for installations without energy storage. The record low RCEm of April 2026 (£0.132/kWh) is a signal, not an exception. The only effective answer is to maximise self-consumption: by shifting consumption to PV production hours, switching to a dynamic RCE tariff and - above all - investing in energy storage. For more on how the energy market works in Poland, explain
Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne.
Check if your installation is ready for the reality of net-billing 2026 - free Sollab audit
We will assess your consumption profile, calculate the actual cost-effectiveness of energy storage and select the optimal solution. We operate in Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot and the entire Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Arrange a free audit → +48 608 435 001
