Solar panels can however still be a reasonable investment for covering personal electricity consumption, avoiding connection fees, at least in the case of high levels of usage.

During the summer months, solar panels in Estonia generate so much electricity that power remains cheap daytime, as well as at night. Typically, electricity is most expensive at peak morning and evening times.

Kristjan Karming, CEO of one private sector firm which installs solar panes, said installing new solar panels to sell electricity to the market is no longer viable for the domestic user.

Karming, boss of Sigma Systems, said: "You can't compare with to the situation two years ago, as at that time, daytime electricity prices were very high, plus people installed panels mainly for commercial purposes. It didn't matter how much went on self-consumption."

Now, self-consumption is key, however, Karming went on.

"Producing solar electricity for your own use is still and always will be a reasonable thing to do," he said.

"Even if the market price of energy is zero, you still have to pay for the grid connection fee. So you would save on the grid fee in any case," Karming continued.

Cheaper daytime electricity rates also means that for consumers on variable rate packages, it is rational to run the washing machine, for instance, during the day in summer.

Hannes Agabus, an energy management expert at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) noted that this sometimes proves difficult, especially if out at work.

He said: "Right now, you get the lowest price during those same daytime hours. The question is whether you are at home and can switch on the devices."

"Many people don't have the automation where something starts by itself or can be turned on remotely via an app. This is definitely a digitalization development that awaits us all," Agabus continued.

Kristjan Karming observed that despite orders having diminished, interest in solar panels can still be found.

"You could say right now is a stress-free period, where we can promise reasonable delivery times and work comfortably," Karming went on.

This is partly because the price of solar panels has nearly halved in the last two years.

At the same time, in order for solar electricity to be cost-effective, batteries have become increasingly important, which has again hiked the typical initial outlay.

Agabus said: "A battery with a capacity of around 10-15 kilowatt-hours, which would be suitable for an individual, can cost €4,000 to €5,000."

The cost-effectiveness of batteries depends on the extent to which electricity prices fluctuate in the future.

The greater the fluctuation, the shorter the payback period, though this is notoriously difficult to predict.

Additionally, much depends on political decisions and the extent to which the state decides to intervene in the electricity market, to ensure stable prices.

The same situation applies to the larger solar panel parks, Hannes Agabus went on.

He said: "Managing balance portfolios can get complex, and to cover these costs, setting up batteries and hybrid parks is becoming increasingly popular."

But this is all still at the pilot stage. We can only speculate on the final cost-effectiveness will be, and how it will affect the competitiveness of solar panels in the market going forward," Agabus concluded.

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