Cyprus solar curtailment renews calls for household battery storage

Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus continues to curtail photovoltaic generation when the electricity grid cannot absorb excess output, with CyprusGrid reporting that 162 gigawatt-hours of solar energy was curtailed in the first five months of 2026. The figure represented 65 per cent of the power that could have been generated during the period.

Grid capacity and curtailment

Orestis Georgiou, an R&D expert and blogger, said the grid operator cuts off photovoltaic systems rather than storing surplus electricity for later use.

In a post titled “Why Cyprus is Throwing Away Solar Energy, and How We Can Fix It”, written a year ago, Georgiou said his panels could produce more electricity, supply it to the grid and reduce his monthly electricity costs, but were being forced to shut down.

He said this meant he could not retain extra kilowatt-hours for later use and instead had to purchase additional electricity from the Electricity Authority of Cyprus, which still relies heavily on fossil fuels.

Household storage proposal

Georgiou proposed household battery storage as a solution, allowing photovoltaic systems to store their own excess generation.

He said households could charge batteries during sunny periods and use the stored electricity at night, reducing demand on the grid and eliminating curtailment.

Change from net metering

The proposal has gained relevance following the replacement of net metering with net billing at the beginning of the year.

Under the previous net-metering system, prosumers could receive credit for excess electricity and offset it against future consumption, although their systems remained subject to curtailment. This allowed electricity generated in spring, for example, to be used against higher demand in summer.

Net billing credits prosumers for exported excess electricity on their current bill at a lower wholesale rate, without allowing future offsets.