Slovakia slashes residential solar subsidy, shifts support toward heat pumps

Slovakia’s Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA) is restructuring its Zelená domácnostiam (Green Households) subsidy program, replacing a voucher-based system with direct cash payments to household bank accounts.

The program has operated since 2015 through vouchers redeemed by registered installers, who deducted the subsidy from customer invoices and later claimed reimbursement from SIEA.

The agency said the new system is intended to simplify the application process for both households and installers, who will no longer need to manage the reimbursement paperwork on households’ behalf.

Under the current 2023-29 funding period, the program has a total budget of €107.7 million ($123.6 million). In the most recent phase, spanning roughly 2022 to 2024, SIEA reported supporting more than 33,300 installations with over €95 million in vouchers. More than €28 million remains available for household renewable-energy support, though the specific EU or national funding instrument behind that amount was not specified in SIEA’s public communications reviewed for this article.

The reform includes substantial changes to solar support. The maximum supported PV capacity will be reduced to 2 kW from previous limits of up to 3 kW or 7 kW, while the maximum available grant drops from €4,025 to €1,150. SIEA said the change follows an internal analysis showing that many households with larger PV systems exported most of the electricity they generated because their daytime consumption was too low to use the electricity on site, prompting the agency to focus support on smaller systems that households are more likely to consume directly.

Support for other technologies is increasing under the same reform. The maximum grant for heat pumps rises from €4,370 to €4,600, and for biomass boilers from €1,500 to €1,800. The maximum grant for solar thermal collectors remains unchanged at €2,300. SIEA said the reallocation reflects a priority on technologies that directly reduce carbon emissions from household heating.

Separately, Slovakia’s national energy and climate plan targets a 23% renewable share in heating by 2030. However, the changes were announced by SIEA as a domestic program redesign and were not presented as part of a wider EU-level policy shift.

Program information indicates that several residential support schemes in Central and Southeastern Europe currently offer higher maximum PV grant amounts than Slovakia’s new €1,150 cap, although the schemes differ substantially in structure and are not directly comparable.

Slovenia’s Eko sklad program and Croatia’s national rooftop solar scheme both offer PV grants in the range of several thousand euros depending on system size and household income tier, according to that same review. Czechia’s Nová zelená úsporám scheme has also reduced PV support in 2026 but continues to offer grants above Slovakia’s new €1,150 cap, particularly when combined with building-efficiency measures.

SIEA is running a parallel, more generous program called Zelená solidarita for low-income households, which can cover up to 90% of eligible installation costs. That program’s PV support will also fall under the new rules, from a maximum of €6,300 to €1,800. SIEA temporarily suspended new applications to the low-income scheme on Sept. 15 to give households with already-activated applications time to decide whether to remain under the existing terms, which requires submitting income-verification consents by Sept. 30, or move to the new, lower caps.

Households that had already registered under the previous voucher system must re-register under the new program, as the original registration did not reserve funding or guarantee a specific grant amount. SIEA said it would contact previously registered applicants by email. SIEA said it will publish the new program conditions this week, with a webinar explaining the changes and application process scheduled for Sept. 22.

The reform follows a period of uncertainty for Slovakia’s residential solar market. Slovakia installed 243 MW of solar in 2025, according to the Slovak Association of the Photovoltaic Industry, with residential installations accounting for the largest single segment. SAPI Director Jan Karaba has told pv magazine that he expects 2026 residential growth to stagnate due to disruption in the Zelená domácnostiam program, forecasting overall national solar additions to fall into a 250 MW to 300 MW range for the year.