An open letter to Csaba Lantos

Dear Csaba Lantos, Minister of Energy of the Government of Hungary!

Our non-governmental organisation (NGO) „Platform for the Protection of the Interests of Solar Users /The PEOPLE/” (Napelem-felhasználók Érdekvédelmi Platformja /A NÉP/) firmly insists on the following basic demands, which not only represent the interests of Hungarian families with 230,000 solar panels, but are also important to the Government of Hungary and our nation. We all want a predictable and safe regulatory environment for citizens to develop in our country.

The country is already experiencing a serious loss of trust, which causes problems not only for the families of 230.000 solar users, but also for households and businesses planning energy investments. Due to the uncertainty, entire industries are stalled (installers of solar panels, air conditioners and heat pumps), causing significant damage to the national economy. Installation companies and specialists are forced to leave the country in the hope of making a living, while Hungarian families lose their vision for the future and the technical security that the companies provide in terms of warranty repairs, system expansions and possible replacements.

In order to restore citizen and investor confidence, we firmly request the Hungarian Government the following:

DO NOT CHANGE the signed electricity supplier contracts of those in the annual net metering, because the number of these contracts will continuously decrease in the next 8-15 years!
Ensure a fair and correct gross metering for the kWh fed into the network!
Change the deadline of 09/07/2023 to 12/31/2023 in accordance with EU regulations!

1. WHY SHOULD THE 10-YEAR PERIOD BE FORGOTTEN?

In short: BECAUSE THE NET METERING SYSTEM WILL DISAPPEAR ON ITS OWN OVER TIME.

The government shall not implement legislative changes that unilaterally threaten Hungarian citizens and businesses that have committed to supporting the Hungarian Government’s energy goals based on economic and environmental protection considerations. Setting any fixed time period for the elimination of the net metering construct can only lead to political losses before the 2024 elections and violate the public trust of the citizens.

Technological and technical developments constantly advance in the industry, new inverter models arrive, representing a higher technical standard. These inverters can make it possible to increase the rate of self-consumption and energy efficiency, to develop CONSCIOUS consumer behavior.
The TECHNICAL OBSOLESCENCE PERIOD of inverters is also a well-known concept – depending on the inverter manufacturer and inverter type – this time is ESTIMATED FOR A PERIOD OF 15-25 YEARS, so the net metered solar systems (the number of what had a boom starting with 2015-2016) will reach this age from 2024, therefore it will be worthwhile to think about replacing the inverter by a more advanced one (the performance of the solar panels during this period will still be 80-85%, because without the manufacturer’s commitment it is not possible to sell solar panels in the EU).
The gross metering, which is about to be introduced for new connection permit applicants, shall be made attractive for those who wish to join, so the period shall come when it is worthwhile for the owners of net metered solar systems to deliberately switch to gross metered ones.

Together, the above 3 processes will significantly reduce the number of solar systems with net metering.

See also in our previous article: Why should the 10-year limit be forgotten? (The actors involved in the topic SHALL NOT be burdened with an unnecessary burden!)

2. WHY SHOULD A FAIR AND CORRECT GROSS METERING SYSTEM BE ENSURED?

One should not be paid HUF 5 (~0.01 Euro) for the energy fed into the network, because this does not reflect the real market price.

Correct accounting can be either in accordance with EU recommendations or tied to the stock market price, but not HUF 5.

We welcome the fact that no system usage fee will be introduced for the energy fed into the grid! This is how we interpreted this decree based on the legislation, despite the fact that the interpretations published by experts and the media were not always able to correctly follow the legislation!

We welcome the fact that, depending on demand, solar users can contract for the transfer of excess electricity into the grid on even more favorable terms, but at the same time we emphasize that a fair and just price cannot be just HUF 5, as this does not reflect the market price, but would be an element of an artificially created pricing scheme!

See also in our previous article: Why should HUF 5 be forgotten?

3. WHY SHOULD THE DEADLINE OF 09.07.2023 BE CHANGED?

In short: it would be of significant political benefit to the government without any extra cost, and it would also help Hungarian businesses and Hungarian families stay afloat.

The European Union will oblige the member states to cancel the option of electricity supplier contracts related to (annual) net metered solar systems only from January 1, 2024. However, the Hungarian Government allowed the completion of the installations and the issuance of the annual net metered power supply contracts based on the already submitted connection permits until the end of 2025.

There is no reasonable explanation to why the deadline of September 7, 2023 is necessary, because it is not justified in any way.

Citizens who are able to invest into solar systems ON THEIR OWN and who, in accordance with EU regulations, are allowed by the Hungarian Government to apply for a connection permit for annual net metering, could appear as new private customers for companies installing solar panels.

We request the Hungarian Government to create the opportunity for those who still want to install a solar system ON THEIR OWN based on the annual net metered construct!