Selling solar power in 2026, after the tax reduction
From 2026 there is no tax reduction for solar power you feed into the grid. That changes the sums for panel owners.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
The tax reduction for micro-production of renewable electricity, 60 öre per kilowatt-hour fed into the grid, ended on 1 January 2026, according to the Swedish Tax Agency. For power fed in up to 31 December 2025 you still get it in the 2026 tax return, at most SEK 18,000 a year, but power fed in during 2026 earns nothing in the 2027 return. A sold kilowatt-hour is now worth only what the buyer pays you under the contract. A kilowatt-hour you use yourself, though, is worth the whole all-in price you avoid: spot price, mark-up, the grid transfer fee, energy tax of 36.0 öre/kWh and VAT. On Vattenfall Eldistribution’s grid with a 50 öre spot price that is 152.0 öre/kWh. That is why using solar power as it is produced pays more than before.
Use your solar power or sell it?
Extra value of using it yourself, per year
SEK 2,813
| Value of a kWh used (all-in price avoided) | 138.8 öre/kWh |
| Value of a kWh sold | 45.0 öre/kWh |
| Tax reduction 2026 | abolished |
Own use valued with a 25 öre transfer fee, energy tax and VAT. Payment for sold power is in your contract.
A kWh used against a kWh sold
| Spot price | Value of a kWh you use yourself | Value of a kWh sold at spot |
|---|---|---|
| 20 öre | 114.5 öre/kWh | 20 öre |
| 50 öre | 152.0 öre/kWh | 50 öre |
| 100 öre | 214.5 öre/kWh | 100 öre |
The gap between the columns is the tax, grid fee and VAT on power you would otherwise have bought. That gap does not vanish when spot prices are low, which is why a kilowatt-hour you use yourself is always worth more than one sold at the spot price. Before 2026 the tax reduction of 60 öre narrowed it; now it no longer does.
What changed on 1 January 2026
The micro-production tax reduction paid 60 öre for each kWh fed into the grid, with two caps: no more kWh than you drew from the grid that year, and at most 30,000 kWh. The Tax Agency says parliament decided it ends from 1 January 2026, and that it counts for the last time in the 2026 return for 2025 production. You need do nothing for it to stop. For an installation exporting 3,000 kWh a year, the change means SEK 1,800 a year no longer comes back through the tax return.
A worked example: 3,000 kWh of surplus
Suppose a house exports 3,000 kWh of surplus a year and the buyer pays 45 öre per kWh; the figures are examples. In 2025 the same surplus also earned the tax reduction: 3,000 × 60 öre = SEK 1,800, provided the house bought at least as many kWh from the grid. From 2026 that part is gone, and selling brings only SEK 1,350. If the house can instead use 1,000 of those 3,000 kWh itself while the sun shines, it avoids buying them. At an all-in price of 152.0 öre/kWh they are worth SEK 1,520, against SEK 450 if sold. That is why self-use now matters more than selling. Try your own figures in the mini-calculator.
What has not changed
You can still sell your surplus to a retailer, with payment set as before in the contract with the buyer. What has gone is only the state’s 60 öre tax reduction. Production in 2025 is reported as usual in the 2026 return; the Tax Agency’s page on micro-production explains how the reduction is calculated and its caps. Questions about your sale contract go to the buyer; about the 2025 reduction, to the Tax Agency.
Getting more out of your solar power
- Shift use into sunny hours: run the washer, dishwasher and dryer at midday while the panels produce. No special contract is needed, since it is bought power you avoid.
- Steer car charging towards the surplus if the car is at home in the daytime.
- Heat hot water with the surplus if the heater can be controlled.
- Check the contract for sold power: the buyer sets the payment and terms differ.
- Reconsider sizing for a new installation: without the tax reduction a sold kWh is worth less than before, so daytime use decides how much of the output gets full value.
Summer prices in Statistics Sweden’s data
Statistics Sweden publishes no hourly spot price, but the average variable price for a house without electric heating in SE3 from May to July since 2025 was 71.0 öre/kWh before VAT, mark-up included. That gives a sense of the price of power you buy in the panels’ best months. The value of power sold depends on the spot price in the exact hours you export, which may be lower. See negative electricity prices for what happens below zero, and energy tax on electricity for the tax you avoid on your own use.
Solar power and the grid fee
Power you produce and use yourself is power you do not buy: you avoid the retail price and the transfer fee, energy tax and VAT that come with bought power. The fixed grid fee and subscription stay as before. If your grid has a power charge, solar output may lower your peak in the hours it produces, but not on a cold winter evening when the panels deliver nothing. Check your grid fee in the comparison.