Solar - 02/21/2012

Solar self-consumption allows families to save for future increases in the light bills

With an appropriate legislation, any Spanish family, community and town could save from this year on, the future rises in the final price of electricity. The investment required for this would be € 3,500 per family. The photovoltaic industry believes that the "self-consumption per net balance" will be a revolution for every citizen and city.

There are two major forms of consumption: the individual consumption and the shared one. Thanks to the encouragement from the Government both can be an immediate reality in neighbouring communities and Spanish town halls, as Rocío Hortigüela and Antonio Navarro, the Co-Presidents of UNEF, has recently stated in a press conference. UNEF is the federation of the four national industry associations.

In their view, the photovoltaic solar panels will be able to carry the generation of electricity to each house, and also have the ability to generate and consume their own electricity at home or in a neighbouring area, an achievement that will eventually amend the Spanish electricity system.

Apart from the energy savings, self-consumption would strengthen the role of renewable energies in Spain and the country's commitment to the European Union objectives by 2020. At the same time, solar self-consumption will be generated in nearby areas (distributed generation) and will also increase energy efficiency. This is an essential issue for this sector, since 10% of the total electrical energy is lost during its transport and distribution, which results in an annual cost of about € 2,000 million for the system.