Is it interesting for companies to invest in solar energy for self-consumption?
Photovoltaic self-consumption provides Portuguese companies with an ecological and economical way of producing and consuming their own electricity. More and more companies are looking for a way to save on their (electricity) bills and, at the same time, actively combat climate change. The investment in Portugal in self-consumption photovoltaic installations is due mainly to two factors: the significant increase in energy cost savings, through self-consumption; and more agile administrative procedures (mere prior notification up to 30 kW and simplified registration on the SERUP / DGEG portal).
Controlling electricity costs is indeed very relevant for everyone, but especially for industry, which remains one of the largest electricity consumers. Portugal has one of the highest electricity prices. Thus, in the case of industry, this fact assumes even more dramatic proportions, meaning loss of competitiveness, as competitors in the global market benefit from lower energy costs. On the other hand, Portugal is one of the countries in Europe with the greatest availability of solar radiation: our country has 2,500 to 3,200 hours of sunshine per year, an average of 4 to 6 hours in winter; and 10 to 12 hours in summer. In this way, the competitive advantage of the exploitation of self-consumption solar energy is evident.
5 advantages of self-consumption solar energy for companies:
- Decreased energy dependence and reduced exposure to future fluctuations in electricity prices.
- Increase in competitiveness due to cost reduction.
- Profitability of unused assets (roofs, land).
- 100% clean energy production.
- Implementation of energy efficiency measures, namely those required by current legislation.
Simplified licensing in Portugal since 2020
In January 2020, new rules came into force for solar energy production under a self-production regime. The legal regime (Decree-Law No. 162/2019) simplified the licensing process and allowed the sharing of solar energy with surrounding dwellings. Self-consumption plants above 350 W only need to be communicated in advance to DGEG. Projects above 30 kW require an exploration certificate and projects up to 1 MW, require a production and exploration license. The installations must be carried out by certified companies or technicians.
Investing in solar energy for self-consumption is investing in competitiveness
Solar energy systems for self-consumption allow the production and consumption of electricity locally. Now, the energy produced can even be shared with neighbours. For companies, and particularly for industry, self-consumption is an ecological and financially profitable solution. Many Portuguese companies are already taking full advantage of these benefits offered by solar energy, offered by self-consumption. Through an installation for self-consumption part of the energy, usually purchased from the grid, is supplied directly by the solar installation, which means: significantly reducing electricity bills; and fixing the cost related to self-consumed energy, lowering exposure to future and expected cost rises.
In most cases, consumption in companies occurs during the day, in line with the hours of solar production, representing self-consumption quotas of over 70%, and can even reach 100% if the company works at weekends, without resorting to storage. This fact, together with the fall in the price of technology in recent years, makes it possible to obtain very interesting financial returns, normally around 4 years.
An example: a company in the Lisbon area can make use of an average of 2,799 hours of sun per year, this means that a solar installation could obtain specific productions between 1,550 and 1,600 kWh/(kWp/year). This means that: 1 kWp installed, which costs approximately 650 €, will produce on average 1,575 kWh/year; this energy when self-consumed corresponds to about 190 €/year less on the electricity bill.
Of course, the expected return will depend on the size of the solar installation, the company’s consumption profile and electricity costs. SOLVasto has a team specialised in sizing solar systems for self-consumption, adapting the sizing to the profile and situation of each client, maximising the largest consumption of solar energy and consequently the profitability of your investment.
Solar energy for self-consumption without any investment
SOLVasto offers turnkey solutions including licensing, investment, installation and maintenance of the solar plant. It offers its clients individualised solutions that allow for the investment of a third party partner of SOLVasto. In this model, the investor bears the cost of the solar installation and is remunerated through part of the savings on his electricity bill and/or eventual revenues obtained by selling the surplus to the grid or to an energy community (neighbour). The investing partner takes charge of the ownership and management of the project and delivers, at the end of the contract term, the entire installation to the client. The client only makes the space available and buys the energy produced by the plant for an agreed (fixed) fee, which can be up to 50% less than the tariff avoided by buying energy from the grid.
We recommend that companies contract this model with the option to purchase at any time during the contract. It is very important that they can maintain their independence in choosing their energy supplier from the grid and therefore the best tariff, which is always the case with the contracts SOLVasto recommends.
At SOLVasto we provide independent services for photovoltaic installations, we know how to communicate with all the players in the photovoltaic market so that we can always offer our customers the best solution. Contact us: autoconsumo@SOLVasto.pt
