Bad news for thousands of rooftop solar owners in Cyprus: by the end of March, the Electricity Authority (EAC) will zero out all stored kilowatt-hours produced by residential photovoltaic systems but not consumed. Combined with widespread production curtailments, consumers face higher electricity bills amid an energy crisis.
According to the EAC, the reset affects all net metering and net billing photovoltaic systems. The next reset for net metering subscribers is scheduled for March 2029, while net billing systems will be reset in November 2027.
Throughout March and April, mass curtailments of solar production are expected. The EAC will remotely disconnect rooftop panels via ripple control, as renewable generation exceeds 1,000 MW while demand during this period is only around 450 MW.
For grid safety, the EAC must maintain conventional generation of at least 200 MW at all times, leaving only about 250 MW available for renewables — a fraction of their actual capacity.
This means households cannot “bank” green energy for summer, when electricity bills are expected to surge due to rising fuel costs driven by the Middle East conflict.
