No, I am charged for all the energy I consume as if I did not have panels. The panels are treated as if I am a generator for tariff purposes. Even though obviously most of the time I am consuming the energy my panels produce directly. I am charged as if the panel power was routed into the grid and the power I consume was routed from the grid. The utility has a meter on the panel out, and a net meter at the connection to the utility to the mains. They know exactly where power is flowing. And it is their playground so they set the tariff rules. My point is be very careful before making a substantial capital investment based on the rules as they exist when you do it. Those rules can (and will) change at the whim of the utility because they are not going to give you a long term written contract that specifies the tariff rules. I expected to be made almost whole some 20 years ago after around 20 years with my at the time very expensive panel purchase thinking I was doing a good thing. After the tariff change 10 years ago, I'll never get my investment back. As the old saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me." The utilities and consumers are trying to game each other, the latest being buying a battery and doing time of day buy sell tricks. I pity the poor consumer who shelled out tens of thousands for a system that may get a tariff change tomorrow where the game is over.
That is crazy and scary stuff. Glad I did not participate as it was a hype and today insurance goes up, energy prices are different when one has registered solar panels etc. Last year I got 3 large 500W ones for free together with cabling, MC4 connectors and an inverter but did not put time in it yet. Unregistered just sounds about right.
In spain the fine for having an unregistered installation in the years till 2018 was up to 60M (million euro). A result of the close collaboration between the big electricity and politics. the fine has never been dealt out, but the effect on the solar industry was devastating. There were till 2018 few EV charging stations, as no one got a license to sell electricity on the street, only big electricty could do that. Giving away was still possible, so many shopping malls has a small charger. Since 2018 a lot has changed in this respect. Solar industry is booming , when panel prices are rock bottom. 430W tier 1 manufacturer, 57 euro.
It surprised me how much pressure was put on being green, separating waste, eating vegan etc. I think it is very uncomfortable when a government decides for me where I spend my money on or how to live. As you could have guessed I was in this partly professionally and it was mostly decided by non technical people that did not have a clue. Stopping with nuclear to end up in a crisis that could easily have been avoided.