This year, over 30 times more home batteries have been installed in houses in Flanders than during the whole of last year, figures from grid manager Fluvius and the Flemish Energy and Climate Agency (VEKA) show.
Those who do not use (all) the power from their solar panels usually put it on the electricity grid, but since the abolition of the reverse flow meter, many no longer consider this interesting, figures requested by VRT show.
With a home battery, it is possible to also store that power to use later. Installation and VAT included, a home battery costs at least €5,000.
To encourage this investment, the Flemish government (with European support) is now providing a premium for its purchase. This was a successful strategy, as more than 11,000 home batteries have already been installed this year.
By way of comparison: in the whole of 2020, a total of 337 home batteries were installed, meaning the number went up by more than 30 times 2020's total.
For a large proportion of these home batteries, some 7,000 people also applied for the government premium.
According to the authorities, the sharp increase is partly due to the high price of electricity. For many owners of solar panels, a home battery was until recently a less interesting investment, but because of the rising prices, many people try to avoid using a lot of electricity from the grid.
