Payback period of a home battery in 2027

What is the payback period per household?

The table shows five typical households on a fixed or variable contract: electricity at €0.30 per kWh and €0.035 net per kWh fed into the grid. The battery loses 2% of its capacity a year and lasts 15 years.

The pattern is clear: the more solar power you have left over and the more you use in the evening and at night, the more a battery has to do. A small household does not fill and empty a battery often enough to earn back the fixed costs of inverter and installation.

Which factors determine the payback period?

Below we change one thing at a time for the average household, so you can see what matters and what does not.

• The purchase price matters most. At €2,000 instead of €3,500 the same battery pays for itself in 8.7 years. Up to about €2,300 you stay within 10 years.
• The electricity price counts directly. Every kWh from the battery saves you the price of grid electricity. Five cents more or less makes a difference of about €47 a year.
• A lower feed-in compensation helps the battery. The less you get for exported electricity, the more storing it earns. After 2030 the legal minimum for that compensation lapses.
• Being at home during the day and the price trend shift the outcome by a year or two.

Why ten years is an important threshold

Most manufacturers give a 10-year warranty, or about 6,000 charge cycles. If the battery pays for itself within that period, you run little risk. If it takes longer, you are counting on years in which a failed battery or inverter is at your own expense. That is why the calculator calls a payback period of up to 10 years "probably worth it" and anything above it borderline.

Can you calculate the payback period yourself?

The quick sum is the purchase price divided by the yearly saving. For our average household that is €3,500 ÷ €242 = 14.5 years. That sum is too optimistic, because a battery loses capacity every year. With 2% loss a year the battery has still not paid for itself after 15 years. The hard part is the saving itself: it depends on how much electricity the battery really shifts in a year, and that only follows from an hourly simulation.

What do independent sources say?

Milieu Centraal, the Dutch public information organisation, concluded in autumn 2026 that a home battery will most likely not pay for itself through savings on your electricity bill alone. Research firm CE Delft, working for homeowners' association Vereniging Eigen Huis, found payback periods ranging from just over 6 to 22 years. Our results fit that picture: favourable with a low purchase price and a lot of exported solar power, unfavourable for a small household or an expensive installation. Sellers often count on income from electricity trading that is not guaranteed.

Calculate your own payback period or read what a home battery may cost.