From pv magazine France
The organizers of the BePositive trade show – held from March 25 to 27 at Eurexpo in Lyon, France – said the 2025 edition brought together 504 exhibitors and 27,570 professionals over three days, a 3% increase from 2023.
This year, regulatory developments dominated conversations across the show floor. The event coincided with the publication of feed-in tariffs (FITs) for PV systems under 500 kW. In the sub-9 kW segment, the cut is steep: after dropping 40% in one year, the self-consumption rebate will be halved again starting March 28, falling to €80 ($88)/kW. The purchase price of surplus power under net metering will drop from €0.127/kWh to €0.04/kWh.
“We don't know how individuals will react to this announcement, especially since the VAT reduction to 5.5% won't take effect until October,” Bruno Rosec, president of the Collective for the Defense of Photovoltaics (CDPF), told pv magazine France. “Many of our colleagues are worried about the coming months.”
The current average price of electricity in France is €0.2146/kWh, while the newly announced buyback price for solar energy is €0.04/kWh.
“We must continue to communicate with the general public so that they don't abandon the idea of investing in solar energy,” a spokesperson from French energy supplier Hello Watt said, noting that the price of electricity will inevitably continue to rise. “Furthermore, the cost of solar installations is falling. Panel prices have fallen by more than 30% in one year. Today, you have to pay €7,000, €11,000, or €14,000 respectively for a 3 kW, 6 kW, or 9 kW installation. A fast charging station costs around €1,500, and a battery between €4,000 and €8,000, depending on its size.”
Solar solutions provider Otovo reported similar price trends: a 5 kWh battery that sold for around €3,045 in November 2021 dropped to €2,195 in December 2024, a 28% decrease.
“This cost reduction, combined with rising energy prices, is encouraging more and more homeowners to integrate batteries into their solar installations,” said Otovo.
Many installers said the price drop pushed them to expand into residential storage. One installer said that falling FiT rates have spurred demand, noting he sold four batteries to individual customers in a single week – more than over the previous two years – and described the moment as a “turning point.”
“We're encouraging our network of installers to move in this direction,” says Maaty Bouanane, France manager of Enphase Energy. “An installer who has sold a photovoltaic system to a customer can come back to them with a battery, a hot water tank or heat pump control system, or a charging station, which can boost their sales. We've also noticed that half of the IQ EV Charger 2 electric vehicle charging stations activated in recent weeks were on existing PV power plants.”
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