How do I show rooftop solar power I use in the energy table of the European Union (EU) voluntary standard for small companies (VSME)?

Count solar you generate and use as electricity consumption (our reading: in the renewable cell). The standard says you cannot offset consumption with production, even if power made on site is sold to and used by a third party. VSME is the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group's Voluntary standard for non-listed micro-, small- and medium-sized undertakings.

What the standard says

• Where electricity comes from solar or wind and no fuel is needed, you account for the amount generated and consumed as electricity consumption.
• You shall not offset energy consumption by energy production, even if energy generated on site is sold to and used by a third party.
• The renewable share can be calculated from guarantees of origin, renewable energy certificates, or the electricity composition printed on the bill.

In plain words

Picture a tank. Water from your own well and water from the municipal pipe both go into your use. You do not take away the water you gave a neighbour from your own use total, because you never used it.

Our reading on three cases

• Solar used on site: add its megawatt hours (MWh) to the renewable electricity cell.
• Solar sent to the grid: it is not consumed by you, so it is not in your consumption. Do not subtract it from the grid units either.
• Grid power: the standard names three routes to a renewable share. If none applies to your bill, we do not see a fallback in the text, so ask your buyer how it wants grid power shown.

Records that answer it

• Utility bills for units bought from the grid.
• The solar inverter or generation meter reading for units made and used.
• Any export meter or net-metering statement, to separate used units from sold units.

Example: grid plus solar

• Grid units on bills: 120 MWh, no renewable claim held
• Solar made 50 MWh: 40 MWh used on site, 10 MWh sent to the grid
• Renewable electricity: 40 MWh. Non-renewable electricity: 120 MWh. Total electricity: 160 MWh
• The 10 MWh sent out is not subtracted from anything

Numbers are an example. Showing all grid units as non-renewable is only for the example; ask your buyer how it wants grid power shown.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into records, so the fuel and units you bought are on file for this disclosure. Tank dips, plant logs and meter readings stay with you, or can be connected as a custom meter integration on request.

• What is the VSME standard?
• Which do I count, DG diesel or DG units?
• Location-based or market-based Scope 2
• Free calculators

Sources: European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), Voluntary standard for non-listed micro-, small- and medium-sized undertakings (VSME), 2024 edition, 66 pages, paragraphs 29, 82 to 84

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. Facts are from the standard's own text, with the paragraph numbers named in the source line. The European Commission adopted its own standard for voluntary use in a Delegated Regulation of 3 July 2026, which is not in force until it is published in the Official Journal and may differ from this text, so ask your buyer which one it means. Our own readings are marked as such.