FAQs

Two self-consumption modalities are distinguished, as established in Article 9 of the Law 24/2013, of December 26, on the Electricity Sector and further detailed in Article 4 of the Royal Decree 244/2019, of April 5.

1. Without Excess Energy

This modality refers to a consumer with a generation installation for self-consumption, equipped with an anti-spill mechanism that prevents excess energy from being injected into the grid. In this case, there will be a single consumer.

2. With Excess Energy

This modality applies to a consumer associated with a production installation that, in addition to supplying energy for self-consumption, injects excess energy into the transmission and distribution networks. This installation must be duly registered in the administrative registry for electricity production installations connected within its grid. In this case, there will be two entities: the consumer and the producer.

This modality is further divided into two subcategories:

2.1. With excess under compensation These are self-consumption systems with excess energy where, voluntarily, the consumer and producer choose to adopt a compensation mechanism for excess energy. To qualify for this modality, the following requirements must be met:

• Primary energy source must be renewable.
• Total power of the associated production installations must not exceed 100 kW.
• The consumer must sign a single supply contract for the associated consumption and, if necessary, for auxiliary production consumption with a commercial company.
• The consumer and producer must sign a excess compensation agreement.
• The production installation must not be granted any additional or specific remuneration regime.

2.2. With excess not under compensation This modality includes cases of self-consumption with excess that do not meet the requirements for the previous category or voluntarily opt out. In this case, energy that is not consumed instantaneously is injected into the grid and sold at the market price.

Additionally, the law establishes another classification of self-consumption:

• Individual self-consumption is when a single consumer is supplied with electricity from generation facilities.
• Collective self-consumption is when a group of several consumers, by mutual agreement, are supplied with electricity from a community production facility. In this case, all the participating consumers associated with the same generation facility must belong to the same self-consumption modality and individually communicate a single agreement signed by all the participants that outlines the distribution criteria.

Yes, the surplus energy can be sold, according to the provisions of Royal Decree 244/2019, of April 5.

The requirement for its sale is that it must be under the mode of supply with self-consumption with surpluses not under compensation and the same standards as any electric power production plant will apply.

In the supply mode with self-consumption with surpluses, the producer may sell the surplus energy or opt for the simplified compensation mechanism.

The simplified compensation mechanism is designed for small renewable consumers up to 100 kW, allowing them to offset in their bill the energy consumed through the grid with the surplus energy they have not consumed. It will consist of an economic balance of the energy consumed in the billing period:

1. If they have a contract with an independent supplier, the hourly energy consumed from the grid and the surplus will be valued at the hourly price agreed between the parties.
2. If they have a supply contract at the voluntary price for small consumers with a reference supplier:
   • The hourly energy consumed from the grid will be valued at the hourly cost of energy at the voluntary price for small consumers each hour.
   • The hourly surplus energy will be valued at the average hourly price.

Example: distribution criteria and surplus compensation mechanisms:

(1): Completely free and tax-exempt.
(2): Same price and taxes as energy used in a regular rate.

The energy compensation mechanism reduces the electricity bill by deducting from the monthly consumption the economic amount corresponding to the surplus energy that has been injected into the grid.

Electricity Tax and VAT: VAT will be applied to the sum of the different prices, deducting the compensation.

Those who:

• Are associated to production facilities whose power does not exceed 100 kW.
• The generation is of renewable origin.
• Production plants do not have an additional or specific remuneration regime.

This mechanism is not limited to individual self-consumption, but is also applicable to collective self-consumption.

Self-consumption has been significantly cheaper during these years, although the initial investment still seems important, but it must be taken into account that the useful life of the installation is about 25 years and it takes an average of 4 to 10 years to amortize the investment , so investing in a photovoltaic solar installation will generate a very significant accumulated savings in energy.

We recommend contact with an expert installer, for security reasons and installation warranty.

On the other hand, many municipalities offer subsidies and grants for solar panel installations, so that you can reduce the investment between 40% and 50%; IBI reductions of up to 50%; possibility of deduction of personal income tax (IRPF). These are mainly intended for installations in single-family or community homes related to energy efficiency.

The main components of a photovoltaic installation are:

• Photovoltaic solar panels. They generate direct current power.

• Solar inverter. Converts DC to AC for use by household appliances.

• Safety and security features.

• Solar and photovoltaic battery.  A reservoir that stores excess energy from photovoltaic panels for use in hours when the sun is not available. The battery is not essential for photovoltaic installation.

• Regulator.  Device that adjusts the charging voltage of the batteries, avoiding overloads and overheating. If there is no battery in the installation, no regulator is needed.

The solar panels are composed of modules, and the modules of photovoltaic cells that are made of semiconductor materials that transform solar energy into direct current energy through the photovoltaic effect. The more energy we need, the greater the surface area of panels we will install.

The energy obtained from the panels will pass through a solar inverter, where it will be transformed into alternating current so that it can be used by household appliances.

All or part of the energy will be used for self-consumption. However, the surplus energy can be used in various ways: storing this energy in batteries, discharging it into the electricity grid to obtain compensation, or not using it by disposing of it through an anti-discharge system.

More information about how a solar panel installation works.

No. On October 5, 2018, this tax was repealed.

Yes, they do. However, energy production is reduced by around 10-25% of a sunny day, but it may vary depending on the thickness of the clouds and the installation itself.

No, they don't. Photovoltaic solar panels need light (preferably sunlight) to generate energy.

However, the excess energy produced during the day can be stored in a solar battery and used when the sun is unavailable.

Subsidies on state taxes Many municipalities offer subsidies and grants, so it is advisable to consult the website of each municipality. These subsidies are generally applied to state taxes through discounts on the IBI (Property Tax; between 30% to 50% for 3 or 5 years) or the ICIO (Construction, Facilities and Works Tax; between 30% to 90%).

Subsidies on installation price Some autonomous communities are aware of the importance of a responsible and sustainable energy model, so there are also subsidies for solar panels to encourage the use of renewable energy and various aspects of self-consumption. These subsidies are on the price of the installation, which are applied as a percentage of the total price of the installation and they are issued from time to time depending on the management of the budgets of each community and they have a specific duration.

Income tax deduction The taxpayers in the investment in self-consumption installations of electric energy may deduct 20% of the amount of the quantity invested in installations carried out in the habitual residence and in collective facilities of the building destined to any of the following purposes:

• Installations for self-consumption of electricity, as established in article 9.1.a of Law 24/2013, of December 16, on the Electricity Sector, and its development regulations (modality of supply of electric energy with self-consumption).
• Installations for the production of thermal energy from solar, biomass or geothermal energy for the generation of hot water, heating and/or air-conditioning.
• Installations for the production of electrical energy from photovoltaic and/or wind energy, for the electrification of dwellings isolated from the distribution electricity grid and whose connection to it is technically, environmentally and/or economically unviable.

Those facilities that are mandatory are not entitled to the application of this deduction.

Royal Decree 244/2019 of 5 April, which regulates self-consumption, provides for the existence of coefficients to distribute energy in collective self-consumption. The value of these partition coefficients depends on the agreement between the participants, with the only requirement that they must be constant values. These criteria and coefficients should be laid down in the agreement between the parties and each consumer should pass them on to the distributor either directly or through his supply company.

Royal Decree 244/2019 of 5 April, establishes that "The value of these coefficients may be determined based on the billing power of each participating associate consumer, the economic contribution of each consumer to the generation installation, or any other criteria provided that all participants sign an agreement and provided that the sum of these coefficients βi of all consumers participating in collective consumption is the unit. In any case, the value of these coefficients must be constant."

As a last resort solution, and if the participants do not submit different values, the standard provides for partition coefficients calculated based on the maximum powers contracted by the participating consumers. RD 244/2019 of 5 April in Annex I describes a possible energy distribution criterion that can serve as a basis for the implementation of the allocation agreement.

βi : It is the coefficient of distribution of the energy generated among the consumers who participate in the collective self-consumption. This coefficient shall be based on the value shown in an agreement signed by all consumers participating in the collective self-consumption, in addition to being included in the Acta of the Meeting of Proprietors, it must be sent individually by each associated consumer to the distribution company as responsible of consumption reading. However, the coefficient shall take the value of 1 where there is only one consumer associated with a nearby installation through the network. In any case, these coefficients must have fixed values for all hours of a billing period. In the absence of notification of the distribution coefficients to the person in charge of reading the consumptions, these coefficients will be calculated by the following formulation: βi = Pci / ∑Pcj

Being:  Pci : Maximum power contracted to the associated consumer i. ∑Pcj : Sum of the maximum powers contracted by all consumers participating in the collective consumption.

Keep in mind that:

All associated consumers must belong to the same type of self-consumption. A distribution agreement must be drawn up setting out the criteria for allocating the energy generated.

Consumers under any type of self-consumption can change from any other modality, adapting their facilities and complying with the regulations.

However, it should be noted that:

• In the case of collective self-consumption, this change must be carried out simultaneously by ALL consumers associated with the same generation facility.
• Under no circumstances may a consumer be associated simultaneously with more than one mode of self-consumption.
• The period of stay in the chosen mode of self-consumption shall be at least one year from the date of registration or modification of the contract.

Holder: Facility owner (natural or legal person).

Representative company ERIDE: legal person to which the holder delegates, where appropriate, to carry out the procedures relating to the registration of specific remuneration system on his behalf. Facilities don't need to have an ERIDE representative company. Additionally, this representative company may also be different from the representative who takes the steps before the CNMC to liquidate the specific remuneration system.

User representative: a natural person who has been granted sufficient permits to carry out the procedures relating to the registration of a specific remuneration system on behalf of the holder (either directly or through a representative company). They can be authenticated through an electronic certificate of a natural person or legal person. The facilities must have a representative user, who will be the only natural person who will be able to access the notifications by electronic certificate. The holder can, in turn, be a representative user, as explained below. The holders have, by default, reading access to the specific remuneration system register. The holder, if he so wishes, can become a representative user and thus carry out the procedures related to such registration. To do this, it would be enough for the holder to submit any application. When the owner applies, the owner becomes a user representative of the installation, being from this moment the only one that can access all the notifications related to the installation (both those related to the request submitted and those that could be processed).

The CAU or Self-Consumption Code uniquely identifies self-consumption. It is requested by the authorized installation company to the distribution company and relates to all consumers and all the near generation facilities associated with self-consumption.

For installations in self-consumption supply mode exempt from obtaining access and connection permits, prior to submitting the data in the registry of the different Autonomous Communities, the installer or the holder shall request CAU code from the Distributor. For the rest of the facilities, CAU code will be provided in the application process for the access and connection permit.

The CIL identifier code is the Production Installation Code for settlement purposes (Spanish: Código de Instalación de producción a efectos de Liquidación). It is the code determined by the person responsible for reading that will uniquely identify a retributive unit of an installation. It shall consist of the Universal Supply Point Code (CUPS) followed by a 3-digit numerical field corresponding to each retributive unit of the installation, starting with the value '001' for the first and so on. For these purposes, CUPS will be common to all the retributive units that an installation may contain. In order to correctly apply the specific remuneration system to an installation, each of its remuneration units must have its own CIL code assigned, wich is different from the other remuneration units in the same installation.

The person in charge of assigning the CIL is the person in charge of reading (distribution company or Red Eléctrica de España as appropriate), so you can go to this person to request it.

Common Requirements for Subsidies for Self-Consumption:

• Have the detailed budget of the installation.
• Generally, subsidies are not cumulative, so you can only choose one.
• The applicant must be the owner of the installation or the installation company with the prior authorization of the owner.
• Only one photovoltaic installation may be subsidized per dwelling.

Requirements for Personal Income Tax Deduction:

• The concept of "usual dwelling" for the purposes of applying this deduction is defined in the state regulations governing personal income tax.
• Installations must be carried out in the usual dwelling owned by the taxpayers or in the building in which it is located.
• In housing units under a horizontal property regime, where installations are shared and legally compliant, the deduction may be applied by each owner individually according to their participation coefficient, provided all other requirements are met.
• Prior recognition by the Autonomous Administration is required for the deduction.
• The actions to be deducted must be carried out by installation companies that meet the regulatory requirements.
• The basis for this deduction is the amounts actually paid by the taxpayer during the financial year.

Yes, the location of the dwelling and the orientation of the solar panels are essential to maximize the performance of the solar self-consumption installation.

It must be taken into account that photovoltaic solar panels are more productive the more solar radiation they can capture. In general, it is recommended to place them facing south, since the panels generate more electricity if the sun’s rays hit the panel perpendicularly. If we want to obtain energy from the panels throughout the year we will place them with a similar inclination to the latitude, however, we must consider that the sun varies its height throughout the year.

Yes, we recommend staying connected to the electricity grid, since the customer can be left without power for any inconvenience or, if no battery is installed, in the hours without sun. Another advantage of remaining connected to the grid is the option of injecting surplus energy into the grid and being compensated for it in the electricity invoice, with the modality of simplified compensation of surplus energy.

Many times with rainwater is enough to clean the solar panels. However, at least once a year, a physical inspection of the panels should be carried out looking for dirt, debris or bird droppings or to see if the electricity production falls. If so, the panels must be cleaned.

You can do the cleaning by hiring a professional or by doing it yourself.

When you remove dirt during the cleaning of solar panels, be careful not to scratch or break the glass, either using tools or stepping on them. It is also important not to use abrasive soaps or abrasive liquids because they could damage the surface of the panel. However, before starting, we recommend you to consult the solar panel instructions and / or consulting your supplier.