A building can be considered to be a zero energy building if the energy use of the building is compensated with on-site produced renewable energy on a yearly basis. This paper investigates the possibility of low energy buildings using photovoltaic PV solar panels in combination with energy storage systems to become zero energy or a (partly) autonomous building. A detached residential building with underfloor heating, air to water heat pump and photovoltaic panels PV is considered for this case study. The building is modelled in three energy performance levels, 15, 30 and 60 kWh.m-².a-1. All three energy performance levels ensure comfort heating. A user profile for domestic hot water is implemented according to Ecodesign. The energy use profile for appliances is taken from field measurements. Maximum autonomy of the three different buildings, using energy storage, results in 73%, 67% and 60% respectively for 100m² PV panel use and the selected boundary conditions of this research.