The revolution of photo voltaic balconies reaches Spanish flats | Business | EUROtoday

Solar balconies have grow to be the simple and low-cost various to supply power in flats, thus overcoming the technical, financial and bureaucratic obstacles {that a} self-consumption set up shared by all neighbors entails. Living in an house is not an excuse to not save on the electrical energy invoice and take part within the power transition. Nor be a tenant, as a result of this gear could be moved from one residence to a different.

A photo voltaic balcony is a self-pluggable photovoltaic package, that’s, it’s a versatile and ultralight photo voltaic panel that connects to the house grid because of a brand new era of microinverters. It is frequent to position them on balconies, however it’s potential to take action on a number of surfaces, equivalent to roofs, terraces, awnings, gardens, partitions, pergolas… The important requirement is that it’s going through the solar. “There are more square meters of facades than roofs, so solar balconies are an effective alternative in the fight against climate change,” explains Santiago Vernetta, co-founder and CEO of Tornasol Energy, a Valencian firm that has been creating these merchandise for 3 years. because of the Asian large Sunman, the biggest producer of versatile photo voltaic panels on this planet. “They have trusted us to launch their newest panel throughout Europe, for balconies due to weight, aesthetics and power,” he provides.

These units are very straightforward to put in: they don’t require installers or building work. And, as soon as linked, they start to generate photo voltaic power, permitting the proprietor or tenant to economize on their electrical energy payments and keep away from CO2 emissions. “A solar balcony can mean between 30% and 50% savings on the bill, generating enough to cover the consumption of appliances, such as a washing machine, refrigerator, thermos, router, alarm or the phantom consumption of the home. [los aparatos están apagados, pero siguen conectados a la corriente]. Now, with the new network batteries that we have integrated, up to nine kilowatts per hour (kWh) can be stored and cover the entire energy demand of a home,” says Vernetta.

The financial savings will rely upon the dimensions of the photo voltaic package, climate situations, the orientation of the panels and electrical energy consumption. “For example, if you have an 800 watt kit, you generate about 136 kWh per month and pay a rate of 0.26 euros per kWh during sunny hours, the monthly savings is 35.36 euros and the annual saving is 424 euros. .32 euros,” calculates Cristina Benavente, CEO of Econovo, which provides versatile and ultralight photo voltaic kits for balconies.

Each of those gear contains one or two (could also be extra) photo voltaic panels, a microinverter to transform the power generated into electrical energy, anchoring equipment to repair the package to the balcony and a manufacturing measurement gadget. The worth of panels has been tremendously diminished in recent times. “We have lowered prices three times this year because the components are cheaper,” says Boris Hageney, a European entrepreneur who created Groupon CityDeal in 2010 and based Robinsun a 12 months in the past to carry plug-in photo voltaic kits to Spain. A package with one panel begins at 400 euros, and with two it ranges between 600 and 700 euros. If the battery is included, the typical ticket reaches 1,200 euros.

Most of the gear offered is between 600 and 800 watts. This is essential as a result of from €800 onwards an installer is required, which will increase the price range.

Once power begins to be produced, there are two choices. One is to pour the excess into the community and for this the set up have to be licensed, which represents an added price. “You need an Electrical Installation Certificate (CIE), which usually costs up to 500 euros, to which you have to add regional fees,” explains Hageney, who may be very crucial of the obstacles that exist in Spain and calls for a simple certification. , agile and with out charges, you shouldn’t have to ask neighbors for permission and 0% VAT to encourage households. Certification can also be required to use for tax credit.

The drawback is that what the entrepreneurs pay for that surplus is ridiculous. “When you buy from the network you pay 23 cents, but when it sells they give you only six cents,” says the founding father of Robinsun.

The different choice is to retailer the power in batteries and use it when it’s costlier. However, the choice can even rely upon the patterns of every client. “If you consume most of your energy during the day, a battery may not be necessary, since you will directly take advantage of solar production. But if the main consumption occurs at night, a battery becomes an interesting investment to maximize your self-consumption and save more in the long term,” says Benavente.

There are various kinds of measurements and powers, so the panels can adapt to balconies of various dimensions. The essential factor is that these are clear and, if potential, going through south. Their weight just isn’t an issue since there are ultralight ones (between 2.9 and 5 kilos), which reduces structural masses and facilitates set up, described in Tornasol. The security straps maintain as much as 50 kilos and are available 10 per panel.

A sector with potential

Despite their attractiveness, photo voltaic balconies stay fairly unknown in Spain. Although there are not any official figures as a result of not everyone seems to be registered, firms within the sector estimate that there shall be only some thousand, primarily in giant cities. “If there are 10,000 kits installed, that is already a lot,” believes Hageney. However, the market is shifting and the expansion potential in a rustic like Spain (because of the variety of hours of sunshine and flats) is immense. “With increasing awareness of sustainability and falling prices for solar panels, we expect exponential growth in the coming years. We think that self-installable solar energy makes more sense than ever,” says the founding father of Tornasol, which has outfitted greater than 3,000 houses within the final three years.

Spain may be very removed from reaching different European international locations like Germany, the place photo voltaic panels have conquered balconies. In 2023 alone, greater than 1.5 million photo voltaic balconies had been put in within the nation. “This is a giant contribution to their decarbonization plan,” says Robinson, who acknowledges that it’s the most energetic market in Europe, adopted at a distance by France and the Scandinavian international locations. Germany has been a pioneer within the adoption of those programs because of favorable laws (neighbors can’t object), consciousness campaigns and subsidies.

In Spain, then again, the approval of the neighbors is critical. “The railings are common elements, so authorization must be requested from the community of owners,” in accordance with the Professional College of Property Administrators of Madrid. In addition, the aesthetics of the constructing are altered ultimately, which is why the regulation requires a professional majority of 1 third of the whole house owners and coefficients, of all those that make up the neighborhood on the day of the assembly and never simply these current. .