2022 broke a record in installation solar panels In private homes and businesses in Spain. The high prices of electricity (later tempered by the so-called ‘Iberian exception’) led many to turn to this clean and cheap source.
More and more users are deciding Invest in your home and get a noticeable discount on your bill from light By using a few photovoltaic panels placed on the roofs of detached houses or buildings, individuals can produce their own energy and consume less, or even none, from the electrical grid.
In Spain, in 2022 Self-consumption of solar energy increased by at least 108% compared to the previous year, According to a report by the Spanish Photovoltaic Association (UNEF). This allowed the production of approximately 2,500 MW for self-consumption. In total, more than 298,000 homes and more than 54,000 companies generated the equivalent of 1.8% of national electricity demand from their rooftops, according to the Association of Renewable Energy Companies’ annual Photovoltaic Self-Consumption report.
Self-consumption of solar energy in Spain in 2022 increased by at least 108% compared to the previous year
The government aims to reach 9 Gw installed for self-consumption within seven years, as determined in the 2030 Agenda.
The only requirement that engineers need to consider when installing solar panels on a single-family home is the structure in which the project will be carried out. “The most important thing is to check the roof, because depending on how the construction is done, the installation may or may not be carried out,” explains Mario Gómez, engineer of the Ecooo cooperative, which supports solar communities especially in the Madrid region. .
“There is a belief that these facilities should be located in a place that receives direct radiation from the sun,” he said. In reality this fact doesn’t matter“, because the only thing that a lower solar irradiance will affect is “the performance of the installation”. In these cases, a little more investment should be made in order to “have the same installation or at least produce the same energy that a person would produce in an area with more radiation.”
Plates in apartment blocks
In case of a neighboring building, self-consumption is achieved through solar panels. A single installation shared by several users and arranged through “a distribution agreement”. So neighbors need to agree on how the energy will be distributed and what each will invest. Therefore, “They can distribute it equally, or they can distribute it according to the consumption or the energy produced by each user,” explains Gómez. It should also be taken into account that the installation of a building can distribute energy even to neighbors who live within a two-kilometer radius and want to participate in this investment.
The problem with collective self-consumption is not the “simple” installation, this technician from the Ecooo Cooperative says. processing of filesMust be approved by distributors.
“When we finish an installation and restart, the consumer cannot benefit from self-consumption until the distributor processes the file.” From the moment of its establishment, it may take “eight months or a year” until neighbors can subsist on self-consumption exceeding the specified maximum period. Despite this, he complains, “there are no sanctions or consequences for these delays.” But, This only happens with collective self-consumption. In detached houses, the user starts using energy as soon as the installation is made.
Habits also affect
The operation of this system depends on light hours, so unless the user has a battery that accumulates the watts produced, he or she will have to consume the energy during the hours it is produced to save money. Outside of these daylight hours, consumers will use energy from the electricity grid. where they are affiliated.
Gómez explains that the advantage of living with photovoltaic self-consumption means savings on the electricity bill, but he also takes into account: “If I consume the energy during the hours when I produce it, I save more than a person who consumes it at the same time and no longer produces energy at night.”
In the case of a single-family home, users can control the energy produced by solar panels. The application tells them the moments when they produce energy and the amount they produce. “When it comes to a washer, dryer or dishwasher installation, we pay attention to light hours,” explains one user with this type of self-consumption. “We try to do tasks that require more energy expenditure during sunny hours, but we cannot avoid doing things like cooking, especially breakfast or dinner, outside of these hours,” he adds, implying consuming energy from the power grid.
Solar energy users can save between 50% and 70% on their electricity bills.
Even if, Whether it is profitable to install solar panels and whether batteries are added. In the case of an isolated single-family house, the investment required for a family of three can range from 3,500 to 6,000 euros, which is amortized after a few years.
Gómez notes that users of such services They can save “about 50% or 70% of the bill”As long as their habits adapt to the light hours.
Entire neighborhoods and towns are getting plates
There are many users who have decided to take individual steps to advance the energy transition, help climate change and save on electricity bills, but also There are many towns or urbanizations that have decided to use self-consumption collectively. and we provide energy to a larger group of neighbors or even the entire municipality.
In the case of Elche (Alicante)In the city with the second most photovoltaic installations in the Valencian Community, 22 families came together to install solar panels on various houses in their urbanization. “One customer had a very good experience and as a result recommended his neighbors to install panels,” says Carlos Costa, Energy Sales Director for Octopus Energy Spain.
This project carried out by this company “closed the contract in July, installation was carried out in August and after a legalization process that took a week or two, customers were able to enjoy solar energy consumption in September”, explains Costa.
Thanks to these plates Residents of this urbanization may even have a “zero bill”, says the company representative, because they work through a system known as “energy wallet” that allows users to accumulate the excess energy they produce without consuming it. Therefore, Costa adds, “If there are months where you produce more than you consume, that credit can be rolled over to the next month and build up inventory.”
Another project with these features was the project implemented in 2017. Cedillo (Cáceres)By the beginning of 2022, solar panels will be installed in public buildings and also on some lands in order to enable self-consumption by all residents. Thanks to this initiative, it managed to become Spain’s first solar energy city.
Iberdrola, the company promoting the project, organized a day with neighbors last February and gave them an informative explanation of the meaning of the energy community and the benefits of being a member of it. The first round of registration began the same day, with 120 neighbors joining the initiative, and ended on March 1. A total of 305 citizens participated in the project. This represents two-thirds of this town’s approximately 450 residents.
This initiative is as follows: The goal of municipal residents to “live with self-consumption”explains Estela Holgado, president of the Pueblo Solar Energy Association. This translates to: Save up to 50% of what is consumed, indicates Holgado. Additionally, anyone who wishes can participate in this project, provided that they are registered and live in the district.
But these are not the only cases, as there are more and more towns in Spain that are opting for plates as a way to reduce bills and, in some cases, even eliminating plates altogether to have full energy independence.
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