Negative electricity prices and solar panels.
When more power is produced than is used, the spot price can fall below zero. This is called a negative price, and then selling your solar power costs money. Here is what happens and what you can do.
Why the price goes below zero
When there's more power than anyone wants to use, the producers pay to get rid of it.
The spot price is set the day before on the power exchange, for every quarter hour of the day. On sunny and windy days with low consumption, there can be more power than the grid can use. Then the price falls, and it can go below zero.
- Days with a spot price below zero, 25 July-2 October 2026
- DK1: 11. DK2: 4.
- When in the day, 25 July-2 October 2026
- Only between 09:00 and 19:00, most often between 11:00 and 17:00.
- Lowest spot price, 25 July-2 October 2026
- DK1: DKK −0.12 per kWh. DK2: DKK −0.06 per kWh.
Energinet's spot prices for 25 July to 2 October 2026, before VAT and taxes.
The selling price goes below zero first
You get the spot price minus a few small deductions. That's why the selling price goes below zero slightly before the spot price does.
For the power you sell, you get the spot price minus Energinet's feed-in tariff and balancing tariff, your grid company's feed-in tariff and your buyer's trading fee, all four with VAT. The deductions are small, but they mean that the selling price goes below zero while the spot price is still a little above zero.
| Feed-in tariff and balancing tariff (Energinet) | DKK 0.010 |
|---|---|
| Feed-in tariff at the grid company | DKK 0.013 |
| Trading fee | DKK 0.008 |
| Deductions without VAT | DKK 0.031 |
| Deductions with VAT | DKK 0.039 |
From a real settlement in DK1. With those rates, the selling price goes below zero as soon as the spot price is below 3.9 øre per kWh. Your own rates depend on your grid company and your electricity supplier.
The buying price rarely goes below zero
When you buy, tariffs and tax are added on top of the spot price. They have to be eaten up before the buying price goes below zero.
The buying price is the spot price plus your grid company's grid tariff, Energinet's system tariff and transmission grid tariff and the electricity tax, all with VAT. With the rates for 2026, Energinet's two tariffs and the electricity tax add up to 12.3 øre per kWh before VAT, and that's without even counting your grid company's grid tariff.
So the spot price has to go below minus 12.3 øre before the buying price can go below zero at all. The lowest spot price in the period above was minus 11.6 øre, so the buying price never went below zero for a household. Only selling cost money.
What you can do
Avoid selling when it costs money, and use the power yourself instead.
- Stop selling while the selling price is below zero. The inverter can limit how much is sent out to the grid. The solar power is then used in the house, stored in the battery, or the panels produce less.
- Store the solar power in the battery. If there's room, the power is worth more in the evening, when you would otherwise have to buy it.
- Use the power yourself. The dishwasher, washing machine and electric car can usefully run in the middle of the day, when the sun produces more than the house uses.
- Charge from the gridif the buying price goes below zero. It rarely happens, but then you get paid to charge the battery.
Should you switch off your solar panels when electricity prices are negative?
No, usually not. Stop selling instead, so the house and the battery can still use the sun.
Selling only costs money while the selling price is negative, and with the rates above that only happens when the spot price falls below 3.9 øre per kWh. If you have an older system with a fixed price per kWh for what you sell, or with annual net settlement, you may not notice the negative prices at all. Check your statement to see which scheme you're on.
How GridZeno handles it
The plan sees the selling price and the buying price for every quarter hour, the day before.
- Stop selling at negative prices
- Selling stops when the selling price falls below your limit, and starts again when it's above. The limit is DKK 0, and you can change it under Automatic. Smart and Pro.
- Notice the day before
- You can get an email or a message on your phone when tomorrow's selling price falls below your limit. Smart and Pro.
- Buying price below zero
- The battery is always charged from the grid, whatever strategy you have chosen. Smart and Pro.
- The inverter's own limit
- If your installer has set the inverter not to sell, the plan takes that into account and stores the solar power where there's room.
Stop selling at negative prices is carried out by the GridZeno Dongle at your inverter. With Light, you see the prices quarter hour by quarter hour with the negative prices clearly marked, but GridZeno doesn't control the system. See what each subscription does.
The GridZeno Dongle stops selling when the selling price goes below zero.
Stop selling at negative prices is included in Smart and Pro, and selling starts again by itself when it pays. The dongle costs DKK 549 once, Smart DKK 39 and Pro DKK 79 a month.