Solar panels are colonizing rooftops at a frenetic pace — new installations in Spain have tripled in three years — and they reach more and more industries, homes and businesses, but it is still very rare to see them on flats.
In fact, there is not even specific data.
Ignorance about collective self-consumption hampers the development of a fundamental sector in a country where 65% of the population lives in blocks (according to the Funcas study center).
Few people know that you only need the permission of a third of your neighbors to install plates on the common roof (as long as those who do not use them are not forced to pay), that assembly becomes much cheaper if several residents participate and that there are subsidies for this type of network.
"Individual self-consumption is taking off, because you see your neighbor put up plates and you put them on too, but collectively it costs more, since you have to do pedagogy to convince other residents of the building," says Laura Feijóo, from Ecooo, a non-profit cooperative specializing in solar energy.
“If it is for private use of the houses, it is only necessary that a third of the neighbors accept the initiative.
In other words, in a 10-story block, four neighbors would need to be in favor of the installation.
And it is not necessary for the four of them to put on plaques, only those who want can do it, ”she continues.
More information
New self-consumption installations doubled in 2021
The simplest modality is to use the common roof to put some plates whose energy is used only by households that pay to install them.
Feijóo explains what steps should be followed: “First of all, you have to find out how these projects work and then you have to get the support of some residents, those who are more aware or open to change.
Then you have to take the proposal to the neighborhood council to request permission.
And then you can ask for budgets and see how much the installation would cost each family”.
"It is important to know the available space: roofs, gardens, on the ground... The more space and less shadows, the greater the performance of the installation," says a spokeswoman for the Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF), the sector's employer.
The installation company checks the place to install the plates, sizes the installation and indicates the energy that could be allocated to each home.
It is essential to request several budgets before deciding.
In most cases, the company itself requests the subsidies (up to 30%) and connection to the network.
This process has already been completed by Guillermo Lozano, a consultant resident in Majadahonda (Madrid) and concerned about energy savings and climate change.
“First I informed myself and then I started talking to some residents to see who could be allies.
There are different profiles: those concerned about the environment, those who want to save, those who live alone and may not be compensated, large families like mine…” says Lozano, who has five children.
Later, he invited a company to give a talk to the 16 residents of his block and took the matter to the neighborhood council.
Once the permit was obtained, nine families signed up.
The installation was done by Ecooo.
“It is important to have an expert by your side, because there are differences between individual and collective self-consumption.
Also to advise you on legislation and subsidies”, says this consultant.
In their case, they established three distribution percentage ranges (high, medium and low) and, according to this, each family paid between 2,000 and 5,000 euros.
"With the subsidy, we are going to amortize them in about four years."
It took about 10 months to install.
Another modality would be to install self-consumption for common elements, such as the elevator, the stair lights, the pool motor... Noelia Mochales, spokesperson for the Association of Property Administrators, points out that in this case a simple majority vote is required of the owners (more votes in favor than against) and that then everyone will have to participate in the spill, since the savings will be for everyone.
“With the new regulations, approved in June, it is intended to facilitate all types of investment in energy efficiency in buildings, and for this the majorities that were requested to approve these improvement works have been reduced.
In addition, now the spill can be distributed in up to 12 installments to facilitate the initiative, "says Mochales.
In her case,
manages a farm with 165 homes in Getafe that is considering installing plates for common use.
The spokeswoman points out that there are already companies in the sector that are paying rents —of 2,500 euros per month and upwards— to the communities of owners so that they give them the use of their roofs and produce solar energy, which becomes a new source of income.
An entire neighborhood with collective self-consumption
The Pablo Iglesias urbanization in Rivas Vaciamadrid (Madrid), where 939 families live, is going to go one step further and has voted to put up plaques throughout the neighborhood.
Enrique Martín, one of his spokespersons, explains it: “We are 10 communities of owners and we have already achieved a third of support in all the meetings.
About 500 homes have been signed up, more than half.
That will mean about 40 collective installations, about 2,000 solar panels.
We are going to be one of the largest solar neighborhoods in Spain”.
About 50 residents participate in the promoter group, called La Pablo Renovable.
“Collective self-consumption is cheaper than individual consumption,” continues Martín, “because the installation, wiring, study, design is shared, and also because many plates are bought at once and they give you a better price.
We calculate a cost of about 3,000 euros per neighbor, much less than if each one put it on their own, ”he continues.
They hope to start the installation at the end of this year.
Later, they would like to become an energy community to depend as little as possible on the big power companies.
Collective self-consumption of solar energy installed by Ecooo Energía Ciudadana on the roof of a building in Majadahonda (Madrid).
Ecooo Citizen Energy
The Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE) recalls that there are subsidies underway for self-consumption that can be requested until the end of 2023. “The application for aid and its management corresponds to the autonomous communities, which received a first endowment of 660 million euros of the 1,320 with which the program was financed.
This June, an extension of 505 million has been approved that will affect 10 autonomous communities that have requested the extension.
In any case, the budget will continue to be expanded for the rest of the communities that request it, ”says an IDAE spokesperson.
It is true that they are granted in order of arrival and in some cases they are taking months.
Why hasn't collective self-consumption just taken off?
José Donoso, president of the UNEF, considers that what holds him back the most is the fear of not reaching an agreement in the neighborhood council, especially in the largest communities: “It is a barrier that will be broken with the demonstration effect, when it can be seen that the first projects that are already being carried out work well”.
Being such an incipient sector, the employers do not even have data on how much collective self-consumption is installed in Spain, since their figures do not differentiate between individual and collective.
The common thing is still that it reaches single-family homes.
Donoso points out that these plates are much more efficient: "You optimize the installation and you get a better price, that will surely convince more people".
Feijóo, from Ecooo, points out other problems with the regulations: “Right now, energy can only be shared within 500 meters, this distance should be extended to favor projects such as producing energy on the roof of a sports center and sharing it with the entire neighborhood.”
It would also come in handy for projects like the one in Rivas.
The IDAE responds that for now this change is not planned.
“Another thing that can be improved is the energy distribution coefficients, right now a static distribution is made and for example you get 10% of the electricity whether you are at home or not.
If the distribution were dynamic, you consume when you are at home and, if not, another neighbor takes advantage of it”.
The IDAE points out that the Self-consumption Roadmap intends to advance in this aspect to achieve "an optimal distribution of energy":
The last hurdle is to connect the installation to the network.
“This procedure depends on the Ministry of Industry and the electricity companies, and it is taking between six months and a year,” Feijóo denounces.
Lozano confirms that his building in Majadahonda has had the plates on the roof for three months and they are still waiting for the permits: “There is an unacceptable delay, it cannot be that with the installation done, months pass before it connects to the network.
But I am sure that collective self-consumption is the future and that it cannot be stopped, it is unstoppable”.
Various forms of collective self-consumption
According to UNEF, there are different modalities of collective self-consumption.
The first is without surpluses, in which the energy that is not self-consumed cannot be fed into the network and is lost.
The second, with simplified compensation, where surpluses can be poured into the network so that the value of these surpluses will be discounted at the end of the month in the consumer's electricity bill;
it can only be applied in installations of less than 100 kilowatts (kW).
The third would be with surpluses and without compensation, where the energy is sold to the market and in exchange an economic remuneration is obtained for it, with what is considered as an electric energy production facility;
This last modality is usually very useful when the amount of surpluses generated is large,
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