Whoever has a roof has a treasure. Especially in Spain, where single-family homes are scarce while 65.8% of buildings are built in blocks, 20 points above the European average. So it is time to share photovoltaic installations, and being faithful to the original saying, also treasure friends to promote what Héctor Pastor, engineer of the self-consumption department of Ecooo Solar Revolution, calls "culture of agreement", which is where the core is.
“The common use of solar panels was unthinkable when we started our energy self-sufficiency projects in Madrid. The legislative advances have banished the technical drawbacks that made it difficult to incorporate neighbors like now; of course, as long as the radius of action is limited to 500 meters around ”, he says.
Pastor refers to the Entrepatios housing cooperatives, communities that have started their electric self-consumption just before confinement and are still completing works to turn the initiative into one of the first collective facilities with renewables in the country. Current regulations require the agreement of 33% of a community to install photovoltaic panels, regardless of people who are going to enjoy it. It is the Self-consumption Law of 2019 that allows to generate electricity in common, dump the surplus to the network and charge for it.
The 2019 rule has simplified and made installation in communities more accessible, but there is still progress to be made, according to Unef
This example from Madrid shows where the shots go. Just turn on the television and watch the growing advertising for solar solutions, which also includes traditional energy ones. “We are living a transition where collaborative matters. Repsol Solmatch's 32 solar communities –which we estimate at 70 by the end of the year– and our comprehensive Solify self-consumption solution enhance local energy and low emissions, ”says Julieta Maresca, Repsol's distributed generation manager.
“Finally, it seems that we are going to straighten our history. In the just nine months that the royal decree in force has been in place, 458 MW of photovoltaics have already been installed; and this - without even regulatory development - contrary to belief. It paints very well, apart from the logical and punctual break that the Covid-19 has brought about, which above all has taken its toll on business consumption, since in the domestic industry, on the contrary, there has been time to get well informed and save ”, he says flatly Fernando Ferrando, president of the Renewable Foundation.
For him, the important thing is to streamline the administrative issue. "The government has to get its batteries. In Germany putting solar panels is like changing the washing machine and here we are eternal. Until 2022 some 3,000 SMEs can benefit from the photovoltaic boost, with about 4,680 MW installed ”.
Going back to talking about roofs, it is clear that the ball is on the Government. This same month, the Ministry of Ecological Transition announced that the self-consumer will get rid of paying charges for light tolls and, at the same time, through the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE), the publication of the new 2020 Professional Guide for processing self-consumption. Impulses that, added to the wide margin of development that exists (according to the Sustainability Observatory, "there are more than 350,000 hectares of skillful roofs"), are encouraging projects ready to get more out of the sun.
With these wigs and a certain delay with respect to the surrounding countries (until RDL 15/2018, shared self-consumption was not allowed), the first energy communities in Spain began to take shape. A formula in which each neighbor pays a fee and can subtract the kilowatts of a solar plant installed on the roof of some public building, which means savings of close to 40%.
Storage batteries make self-consumption more profitable, as they become more sophisticated
Cádiz, hand in hand with its municipal electricity company, Valencia and Zaragoza are cities that star in the trend, among others. The municipal government, the Ecology and Development Foundation (Ecodes) and EDP (Energías de Portugal) have signed an agreement to “create the first renewable and solidary solar neighborhood in Spain, which will involve an investment of 200,000 euros and will offer individuals and proximity commerce 150,000 kWh per year of cheap energy, especially destined for vulnerable families ”, details Carlos Menéndez, product manager at EDP Solar, who is convinced that in two or three years solidarity and efficient energy, close to the city and the citizen will have cruising speed. Technology and digitization will help this ”, he adds.
In this sense, the improvement of self-consumption with storage deserves a review to increase the profitability of the facilities. "The batteries we offer incorporate artificial intelligence software and data analysis tools that allow the system to self-manage and adapt to customer consumption patterns," says Ignacio Osorio, CEO of Ampere Energy.
The Covid has impacted more on business consumption than on domestic consumption
EDP Solar has also set its sights on Valencia with the Pioneers campaign, in which it invites the autonomous communities to exploit its more than 2,700 hours of sunshine per year and its long million covers "to protect its environment," says Menéndez. It coincides that there are tax incentives for those who take this path. Something that is not homogeneous in the territory (see map).
A recent report by Otovo and Fundación Renovables calculates that only 41% of the municipalities studied offer discounts on real estate tax (IBI) for self-consumption facilities (discount capped at 50%) and 47% on ICIO, tribute local paid when requesting a building license. 28% apply both discounts. For this reason, Ferrando urges "the 441 municipalities counted for not favoring these policies to modify their consumption ordinances so that the European Green Pact truly becomes an opportunity."
Outstanding auctions so that the sun warms more
Stability. Unef, the employers' association (85% of the photovoltaic solar sector), presented its first online macroeconomic report, asking for political consensus to compensate for the damage done by the pandemic, “which results in the delay of the projects rather than in their abandonment. "Says José Donoso, its CEO.
Deadlines. Another of the urgent reforms that is demanded is: "A more rational procedure, which reduces the six or eight months that it now takes to get a building license to install solar panels on a roof terrace."
Auctions. “For the sake of reliability, they should be neutral and at least twice a year; that is to say, the same, but in batches ”, insists Donoso.
Leadership. Spain "can strengthen its position": first European country and sixth in the world ranking.
The amount
40% is saved with a shared power installation. Each neighbor pays a fee and subtracts the kW of a plant installed in a public building from their bill.