How does a battery work without panels?
Some (larger) home batteries can also be used without solar panels. With a dynamic energy contract you can buy electricity when the price is low and sell it again when the price is high. With such a contract the electricity price changes per hour or per quarter-hour, and you need a smart meter. How that works in practice is explained in home battery and dynamic contract.
Can your battery follow the price? See the shop.
With or without solar panels: what is different?
| Topic | With solar panels | Without solar panels |
|---|---|---|
| Charging with | Your own solar power, topped up with electricity from the grid | Only electricity from the grid, at a low price (Milieu Centraal) |
| Contract | Fixed, variable or dynamic | Dynamic contract, to be able to charge on the price (ACM) |
| Nationaal Warmtefonds | Possible, under conditions (Warmtefonds) | Not possible (Warmtefonds) |
| Grid-aware | Always, if you only use the battery for your own consumption (Netbeheer Nederland) | Usually, when charging in the afternoon and using in the evening (Netbeheer Nederland) |
What to watch for
Control. The battery must be able to charge and discharge on the current price itself. Check this per model in the shop.
Return is uncertain. A home battery is so expensive that at the moment you most likely will not earn it back, and that also applies to larger batteries that can be used to trade on energy markets. Whether it works out for you depends on many factors that are developing quickly and are hard to predict. There is no national subsidy for the home battery.
Financing. Borrowing from the Nationaal Warmtefonds for a home battery is possible only if you already have solar panels, or have them installed at the same time as the battery. More on prices, VAT and financing is in costs, VAT and financing of a home battery.
VAT. VAT applies to the purchase of a home battery: the Belastingdienst uses 21% VAT in its example. Reclaiming it is only possible under strict conditions, including a dynamic energy contract and an energy management system (EMS) with which you trade in electricity. In return you have to declare and pay 21% VAT on the fee for electricity fed back. This is not tax advice.
Grid. Steering home batteries on electricity markets can make grid congestion worse at some moments. According to Netbeheer Nederland, charging in the afternoon and using in the evening is usually also good for the local electricity grid.
Registration. A battery system of 0.8 kW or more must be registered. You register your home battery yourself via energieleveren.nl.
Double energy tax when charging from the grid
If you charge electricity from the grid into your battery and feed it back later, double energy tax can arise. On 3 June 2026 Members of Parliament Van den Berg and Boomsma pointed this out in a motion and asked the cabinet to submit a workable arrangement or preferred variant no later than with the 2027 Tax Plan.
In a letter to Parliament of 8 October 2026 the cabinet writes that it wants to prevent energy tax being levied more than once on the same electricity. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy are working with the sector on a solution for the situation after 2026. That letter does not say what the solution will look like.
This is therefore an announced measure and not a rule in force. Take this uncertainty into account when you weigh your options.
Who might it suit?
A home battery without panels suits people who cannot or do not want to install solar panels themselves, who dare to take a dynamic contract and who can absorb price swings: with a dynamic tariff your feed-in fee can change more often.
A battery does not make you self-sufficient: you still need a connection to the grid. What a home battery does and does not do is explained in what is a home battery. Which size fits is worked out in calculating home battery capacity.
Want to know what fits your home? Do the battery match or ask for advice.
Sources
- Milieu Centraal: Home battery, storing solar energy: larger batteries without solar panels, trading with a dynamic contract, most likely not earned back, no national subsidy, not self-sufficient; last changed 28-09-2026 (accessed on 2026-10-18)
- ACM ConsuWijzer: Understandable offer from the energy supplier: with a dynamic contract tariffs can change per quarter-hour or per hour and you need a smart meter (accessed on 2026-10-18)
- ACM ConsuWijzer: The smart meter: dynamic tariff: the electricity price changes per hour or quarter-hour (accessed on 2026-10-18)
- ACM ConsuWijzer: What is net metering: with a dynamic tariff contract the feed-in fee can change more often (accessed on 2026-10-18)
- Nationaal Warmtefonds: Home battery: borrowing for a home battery is possible if you already have solar panels or have them installed at the same time (accessed on 2026-10-18)
- Belastingdienst: Home battery and VAT: conditions for reclaiming VAT (buying and selling electricity, EMS, dynamic energy contract), 21% VAT on the fee for electricity fed back, example with 21% VAT on the purchase (accessed on 2026-10-18)
- Netbeheer Nederland: Home batteries: trading on electricity markets can make congestion worse; charging in the afternoon and using in the evening is usually good for the grid; own consumption is always grid-aware (accessed on 2026-10-18)
- Tweede Kamer: Motion Van den Berg and Boomsma on energy tax for household energy storage (29 023, no. 694): motion of 3 June 2026: electricity drawn from the grid, stored behind a small-consumer connection and later fed back can lead to double energy tax; request to submit a workable arrangement or preferred variant no later than with the 2027 Tax Plan; vote result not shown on the page (accessed on 2026-10-18)
- Rijksoverheid: Letter to Parliament on the 500-rules approach, 8 October 2026 (ref. 2026-0000527884), section on double energy tax for small-scale battery storage: cabinet wants to prevent energy tax being levied more than once on the same electricity; Finance and Economic Affairs and Climate Policy are working with the sector on a solution for small-consumer connections after 2026; the letter does not state what the solution will be (accessed on 2026-10-18)
- RVO: Register your battery system: registration required from 0.8 kW, register a home battery yourself via Energieleveren.nl; checked 17-08-2026 (accessed on 2026-10-18)
