SUN TAX IN SPAIN, IS IT PAID?

WHAT IS THE SUN TAX IN SPAIN?

The term "sun tax" was a levy that the Spanish authorities demanded to pay to cover the costs of distributing and maintaining the electricity grid.

Under this law, those who used solar panels had to pay additional taxes, the so-called "sun tax." This had to be paid for each kWh produced by the installation itself. It was a tax that was equivalent to almost half the price per kWh that the consumer paid to the electricity company.

In addition to paying the corresponding tax, the self-consumer also had the obligation to deliver the surplus energy to the grid free of charge. In other words, everything that was not used had to be delivered to the general network without receiving anything in return.

WHY DID THE SUN TAX EXIST IN SPAIN?

In reality, this tax was devised in 2015 by the then Minister of Industry, José Manuel Soria, to collect part of the government's outstanding debt with energy producers. It was justified by the fact that power companies did not supply electricity to solar panel users and therefore lost revenue while incurring costs for infrastructure. "Solidarity with other consumers," the government said in 2015 when this law was passed.

EXCEPTIONS IN THE PAST

In principle, all homeowners who had installed solar panels or a photovoltaic production system in their home or property had to pay sun tax in Spain. However, there were some exceptions where the additional tax was exempt, such as installations with less than 10 kWh of electricity and solar panel users in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla. Users in the Balearic Islands also benefited from a reduction in their sun tax.

Owners of solar panels that were not connected to the normal electricity grid, such as those who lived in the wild or on a boat, also did not have to pay the sun tax, as they did not use the fixed grid and therefore did not incur costs.

NO ONE PAID THE SUN TAX

Despite all the controversy that arose around the sun tax in Spain, no one actually paid it. The reason is that, although the "sun tax" law was adopted in 2015, its implementation was deficient because the necessary ministerial decrees were lacking. Therefore, no one received the notorious fines between 6,000 euros and 60 million euros and no one paid for the generation of their own energy. Moreover, no one knew how to actually collect such an energy consumption tax, which was simply not possible at the time.

THE END OF THE SUN TAX IN SPAIN

The "sun tax" finally came to an end in Spain after a few years, with the elimination of this tax by the government. In the past, this tax made it difficult and slowed down the self-consumption of electricity in Spain. However, progress in the development of photovoltaic solar energy and self-consumption in the country will no longer be discouraged, quite the opposite. The "Energy Transition" is underway and the future belongs to renewable energies.

THE ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION IN SPAIN, NOW WITH FEWER OBSTACLES

The so-called sun tax limited clean energy development in Spain by imposing charges on self-consumers of solar energy in their own homes. But things have changed and you no longer have to pay anything extra for the energy generated and consumed by the solar panels installed in your home.

The Royal Decree-Law approved by the Council of Ministers recognises, at last, the right to self-consume electricity and share it among several consumers. This self-consumption will be free and people will have the right to consume the energy generated by their own solar panels with much more freedom and autonomy.

In this way, consumers now have sustainable options at affordable prices at their disposal, while reducing CO2 emissions that are released into the atmosphere and generating energy independence.

SOLAR ENERGY, SELF-CONSUMPTION AND COLLECTIVE SELF-CONSUMPTION IN SPAIN

In addition to eliminating tariffs for self-consumption, the new measures establish that consumers can be compensated by the energy marketer for the energy not used in each monthly bill.

At the same time, the figure of "collective self-consumption" appears and the right of consumers to have greater administrative and technical facilities to promote energy produced autonomously and energy not consumed is recognized. In this case, several consumers can associate in the same power generation plant, either between neighbors, in industrial parks or through companies.

It should be noted that in Spain, the potential for energy sources is enormous, and yet the electrical power derived from self-consumption is limited to 170MW (megawatts) for renewables, out of the 1,196MW in total that are recorded from self-consumption.

Today, thanks to the implementation of measures that promote the energy transition in our country, consumers will not face many administrative procedures when choosing self-consumption and will be able to benefit from the energy they produce and do not consume. This is an important development that will undoubtedly change these figures in the near future.

PHOTOVOLTAIC SELF-CONSUMPTION AND ITS BENEFITS FOR THE COUNTRY

Apart from the environmental benefits that the use of renewable energy brings to all of us and to future generations, improving the quality of the air we breathe and limiting energy dependence, there are many others that affect us on a personal and collective level.

In Spain, the average price of electricity can undoubtedly be reduced thanks to solar PV, which is the cheapest way to produce energy despite what was thought until recently.

Renewable energy is the future, there is no turning back, and in the coming years, as the economist and head of the Spanish Photovoltaic Union, José Donoso, explains, an investment of at least 20 billion euros in photovoltaic energy is expected.

At the socio-economic level, self-consumption leads to the creation of new business models with the consequent creation of jobs and research, improving the competitiveness of companies. This is something that benefits everyone, both Spanish and European citizens.

As consumers, we benefit at an individual level thanks to the economic savings that this energy model allows, allowing self-management and control of expenditure and granting greater independence from the outside world.

However, the energy transition entails a change in society, in mentality and in technical changes, digitising electricity consumption.

THE OPTION TO INSTALL SOLAR PANELS AT HOME

Installing solar panels at home is now much easier and cheaper. Thanks to the new measures promoted by the authorities, not only are there much fewer procedures, but the self-consumer can really benefit from the energy they produce. The sun tax no longer exists and becoming a more independent consumer is much easier and faster than until recently.

Thanks to the new regulations, the power limits have disappeared and there are two options in the installation, "with surpluses" and "without surpluses". In addition, shared self-consumption is another viable alternative today.

In addition, consumers who have already installed solar panels on their homes can access the eSios website to conveniently and quickly check the price per megawatt for which they will be compensated with the surplus they present.

We are facing a real change in the development of renewable energy in Spain and it is time to make the most of it. The benefits of this change in the energy model can be seen both individually and globally. No administrative barriers and a long list of individual and collective benefits. Are you ready to join and make use of solar energy?