A lot of activity has been registered in the last few days on the DEDDIE platform for the “Photovoltaics on the Roof» following the decision of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINE) for an early termination of the program on May 15 (from the end of June which was foreseen).
The interest is peaking as all households that want to install photovoltaic in the future will have to apply the net-billing model, which increases the payback times of the investment, compared to the net-metering that is applied today.
Two hundred applications daily
In particular, in the last ten days, the applications they reach 200 almost on a daily basis. In total, the installed systems that have been installed in the one year of the “Photovoltaics on the Roof” program have reached 7,000, of which approximately half include the addition of a battery for energy storage.
The contracted systems, which have not yet been connected to the electricity grid, reach 13,000, of which about 70% are photovoltaic with a battery.
If the same pace of file submission is maintained, it is estimated that by mid-May, when the program closes, another 10,000 applications may be submitted. The recorded frenzy is due to the pursuit not only of the subsidy offered by the program but mainly of securing a favorable pricing of self-production with the net metering system.
The political leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as reported by an official of the ministry, is expected to soon sign the long-awaited, for a year, ministerial decision on self-production of energy, which will include the terms, conditions of application, net-billing charges and other details of the new energy netting model that was instituted last March with Law 5037/2023. The goal is to have it published in the Government Gazette before May 15, when the current “Photovoltaics on the Roof” program ends, so that there is no legislative gap for the start of net-billing.
Who is exempt from net billing?
The bill of the Ministry of the Interior, which is being debated these days in the Parliament, limits the application of energy compensation (net-metering) only to a few categories of consumers, excluding the majority of them, namely households, businesses and energy communities, and favors the application of a scheme of simultaneous offsetting by selling excess energy (net-billing). However, it also provides for certain exceptions as with net-metering they will only be able to continue:
- those who apply until May 15 to the “Photovoltaics on the Roof” program
- solar farms developed by farmers with an output of up to 30 kW (kilowatts)
- municipal photovoltaics
- photovoltaic plants installed by legal entities, of public or private law, that pursue public or other public purposes,
- photovoltaics that are developed exclusively, to meet the energy needs of citizens living below the poverty line and households affected by energy poverty.
The uncertainties of the next day
The Association of Photovoltaic Companies (SEF) highlights the uncertainties for the next day of self-production as it has not been clarified whether there will be a new subsidy for batteries in net-billing systems and if not, what the relevant ministries intend to do. Today, the only tool available to those who do not use the subsidies is a cost deduction that leads to a lower tax burden on anyone who installs a home PV (with or without a battery).
“This positive measure is not enough to lead to repayment times comparable to those currently in force”, notes SEF advisor Mr. Stelios Psomas. As far as VAT is concerned, the Association’s proposal is to apply in Greece the provisions of the relevant Community Directive 2022/542 of April 5, 2022, such as e.g. in Germany which proceeded to establish a zero VAT rate for photovoltaic systems in residences and buildings used for public interest activities. Similar moves have been made by the Netherlands (0% from 21% until previously), Britain (0% VAT for solar panels and heat pumps, from 5% which was until previously), Croatia (0% VAT from 25% until previously ).
Net-metering and net-billing differences
The energy netting in net-metering concerns all the energy produced by photovoltaics, while in net-billing (simultaneous netting) only the percentage of the produced energy that is self-consumed in real time.
In net-metering, the produced energy that is not self-consumed in real time is injected into the network where it is “stored” for a period of up to three years and offset at the price of the tariff agreed with the electricity provider.
On the contrary, in net-billing, as Mr. Psomas explains, all excess energy is injected into the grid and compensated with a regulated price for systems up to 1 MW, which is currently at 6.5 cents/kilowatt hour, i.e. much lower than the prices of tariffs that apply today, and with which net-metering is offset.
According to SEF, the small self-production and self-consumption systems, which have been the “pariah” of the applied policies throughout time, should be supported. In Greece today we have less than 12,000 households with net-metering.
At the same time in the Netherlands, more than 2.6 million households have installed PV for self-consumption (45% of the annual installed capacity, with commercial rooftop systems covering an additional 30%).
In 2023, the small self-consumption systems in our country were just 3.2% of the new installed capacity. Nevertheless, according to SEF data, they maintained 17.5% of jobs in the sector.
Source: Ot.gr
#Photovoltaics #Roof #applications #day #DEDDIE
