Full ERE credits for solar power: four scenarios for an electric truck

ERE credits (emission reduction units) are the Dutch system that rewards renewable energy delivered to transport. Every kWh charged into an electric vehicle earns ERE credits, which a registering agent sells on your behalf.

Home chargers with solar panels are getting fewer ERE credits than they expected. The Dutch Emissions Authority (NEa) limits what can be claimed to the net amount taken from the grid, and for private individuals solar power only counts at the grid average of 50.5%.

For businesses it is different. If you deliver your own solar power directly to a vehicle, you may register it as 100% renewable: 0.66 ERE per kWh instead of 0.33. That also applies if the electricity is stored in a battery first. A battery that moves daytime solar power into the truck at night then looks like an opportunity.

Does it pay off? I calculated it for one electric truck that charges 55,000 kWh a year.

The four scenarios

1. Do nothing. The truck charges from the grid at night. No ERE credits.
2. Battery, no own use. Solar power goes into a battery during the day and into the truck at night. The building did not need that solar power.
3. Battery, with own use. The same, but the building could have used the solar power itself during the day. The building now buys that electricity from the grid.
4. Daytime charging, no battery. The truck charges during the day, partly directly from the panels. With full ERE credits for that solar power.

Assumptions

Truck charging demand	55,000 kWh a year, 260 working days
Grid electricity price	€ 0.15 per kWh
Cost of solar power (panels)	€ 0.06 per kWh
ERE price	€ 0.35
ERE per kWh	0.33 (grid average) or 0.66 (own solar power)
Sales and registration fees	1% and 13%
Audit for full ERE credits	€ 1,900 a year
Battery	254 kWh (daily demand plus a 20% margin), € 250 per kWh, written off over 10 years
Battery losses	10%
Share of solar power	70% via the battery (scenarios 2 and 3), 40% directly during the day (scenario 4)

The outcome at a glance

Per year	1. Do nothing	2. Battery	3. Battery, own use	4. Daytime charging
Grid electricity	− € 8,250	− € 2,475	− € 2,475	− € 4,950
Solar power		− € 2,567	− € 6,417 *	− € 1,320
ERE credits (gross)		+ € 10,799	+ € 10,799	+ € 8,894
Sales and registration fees		− € 1,498	− € 1,498	− € 1,234
Audit		− € 1,900	− € 1,900	− € 1,900
Battery		− € 6,346	− € 6,346
Charging costs after ERE credits	− € 8,250	− € 3,986	− € 7,836	− € 510

* In scenario 3 the solar power does not cost € 0.06 but € 0.15 per kWh: every kWh that goes into the battery has to be bought from the grid by the building. Because of battery losses, this concerns 42,778 kWh.

Daytime charging is by far the cheapest. Note the dotted line in the chart too: registering ERE credits only for the grid power you charge at night, without any investment, already brings you to € 2,779 a year. That is cheaper than both battery scenarios.

Scenario 2: a battery, and the solar power had no other use

The building does not need the solar power during the day. Without a battery it would have been fed back into the grid. With the battery, the solar power shifts to the night and goes into the truck.

Compared with doing nothing, this yields € 4,264 a year. But look at how it builds up. The largest item, the ERE credits at grid average, you also get without a battery. What the battery itself adds is the extra ERE income (€ 4,447) and the grid purchase saved (€ 5,775). From that, subtract the solar power, the audit, the registration fees and above all the battery itself (€ 6,346 a year).

Compared with registering ERE credits for grid power only, the battery costs about € 1,200 more a year. If the battery lasts 15 years, it saves about € 900 a year.

Scenario 3: a battery, while the building could use the solar power itself

This is the situation at many transport companies: during the day the offices, the workshop, the cooling or the lighting are running. Without a battery, the solar power goes straight into the building. With a battery, that solar power shifts to the night, and the building has to buy electricity during the day.

This shows where the gain is, or rather, where it disappears. The grid purchase saved for the truck (€ 5,775) is completely eaten up by the own use the building loses (€ 6,417). You only shift the purchase from the night to the day, and because of battery losses you even buy more.

What remains is the extra ERE income of € 4,447. From that, subtract the registration fees, the audit and the battery. On balance, € 414 a year remains compared with doing nothing. Compared with registering ERE credits for grid power only, this scenario costs about € 5,050 more a year.

So a battery for ERE credits does not pay off if your building can use the solar power itself.

And with a large surplus of solar power?

If you have so much solar power that the building is already fully supplied, the calculation changes. A kWh that goes into the battery was not needed by the building. You only miss the feed-in compensation, which is low for businesses in the Netherlands: a few cents, sometimes zero or negative. With grid congestion, feeding back is sometimes not allowed at all.

With 85% solar power via the battery and a surplus that would otherwise be fed back at € 0.03, charging costs come to − € 920 a year. That is € 1,859 better than registering ERE credits for grid power only. If you cannot get rid of the surplus at all, it even becomes + € 638 a year.

Three caveats:

• 85% is about the maximum. In December and January even a large roof produces too little for a truck that charges 212 kWh every night.
• The roof must be large. About 52,000 kWh a year goes to the truck via the battery, on top of what the building uses. That is roughly 60 kWp extra.
• The surplus must already be there. If you install the panels specifically for this, they cost € 0.06 per kWh and the gain is small: about € 300 a year.

When does a battery with own use pay off?

More kilometres hardly help: the battery grows with them. Every kWh you shift to the night yields € 0.083 (extra ERE credits minus battery losses) and costs € 0.165 in battery (€ 250 per kWh, 10 years). That ratio is the same for one truck as for ten. Only the fixed audit becomes smaller per kWh.

What does help is making the battery cheaper per kWh, or using it more:

• A cheaper battery. The break-even point is around € 125 per kWh with a 10-year life, and around € 190 per kWh with 15 years.
• A longer life. With 15 years and € 200 per kWh you almost break even.
• More use per kWh of capacity. Let the battery also shave peaks on a tight grid connection or charge when electricity is cheap. With twice as much use, battery costs drop to € 0.08 per kWh and you roughly break even, before counting the savings from smart purchasing.
• A higher ERE price. The break-even point is around € 0.64 per ERE, almost double the current price.

So choose the battery for everything it can do, not for the kilometres. If the battery also charges from the grid, that electricity must be metered and allocated separately for the ERE credits.

Scenario 4: daytime charging, without a battery

If the truck is on site for a few hours during the day, it can charge directly from the panels. That solar power also earns full ERE credits, and no battery is needed.

I assumed 40% solar power over the whole year. On a summer working day it is much more, but in winter and on days when the truck is on the road during the day, much less. Even so, this is by far the most favourable scenario: € 7,740 a year compared with doing nothing. If 60% is achieved, it becomes € 9,824.

If the building could use the same solar power, the same applies as in scenario 3: most of the grid purchase saved disappears. The extra ERE credits remain, and there is no battery to pay back.

How sensitive is the outcome?

Charging costs after ERE credits, per year	2. Battery	3. Battery, own use	4. Daytime charging	ERE credits on grid power only
Assumptions above	− € 3,986	− € 7,836	− € 510	− € 2,779
Battery lasts 15 years	− € 1,871	− € 5,721	− € 510	− € 2,779
Battery costs € 200 per kWh	− € 2,717	− € 6,567	− € 510	− € 2,779
ERE price € 0.50	€ 0	− € 3,850	+ € 2,773	− € 434
100,000 kWh a year	− € 5,694	− € 12,694	+ € 627	− € 5,052
Large surplus: 85% solar, otherwise fed back at € 0.03	− € 920	same as 2 *	+ € 150	− € 2,779

* With a large surplus the building is already supplied, so scenario 3 coincides with scenario 2.

The winner does not change in any of the variants: daytime charging remains the most favourable. A battery while the building could use the solar power itself remains the most expensive. With a large surplus, the battery does come close.

What does this mean?

1. Register ERE credits for your grid power. No investment is needed, only an MID meter in the charge point and a registering agent.
2. Charge as much as possible during the day, directly from the sun. That earns full ERE credits without a battery. This is a planning question: when is the truck on site, and for how long?
3. Only use a battery for solar power that has no other use, and above all if the battery also creates room on a tight grid connection. The ERE credits are then a bonus, not a reason to invest.
4. A battery mainly pays off with a structural surplus, or when grid congestion limits feed-in. The solar power you store is then almost free.

Mind the conditions for full ERE credits: guarantees of origin for off-grid delivery, hourly metering of generation and charging, no SDE++ subsidy on the panels, and an audit. If the battery also charges from the grid, for example for peak shaving, that electricity must be metered and allocated separately.

What does this mean for your company? The Charging Scan calculates it per quarter of an hour, based on your company's current electricity use and your own trips: with or without solar panels, a battery and ERE credits.

Sources: NEa, registering renewable electricity (2025); ERE index (October 2026); de Volkskrant (2 November 2026). Own calculation; the daily profiles are illustrative. Analysis and wording with Claude AI.

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