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SUN TAX IN SPAIN

Sun tax in Spain

SUN TAX IN SPAIN

Sun tax in Spain

WHAT IS A SUN TAX IN SPAIN?

The term “impuesto al sol” or solar tax was a toll or tax that the authorities asked to pay for the costs of distribution and maintenance of the electricity network in Spain.
According to this law, those who use solar panels had to pay extra taxes, the so-called “impuesto al sol”. This must be paid for every kWh produced by the own installation. It is a tax that is almost half the kWh price paid by the consumer to the electricity company.

In addition to the payment of the corresponding tax, the self-consumer also has the obligation to give surplus energy to the network free of charge. That is to say, everything that is not used will be given to the general network, without receiving anything in return.

WHY DID WE HAVE SUN TAX IN SPAIN?

In reality, this tax was devised in 2015 by the former minister of industry José Manuel Soria to raise some of the government’s outstanding debt to the energy producers.
This was justified by the fact that the electricity companies didn’t supply electricity to the users of solar panels and thus miss out on revenues while costs are incurred for the infrastructure.
“Solidarity with the other consumers”, the government said in 2015 when this law was passed.

PAST EXCEPTIONS

In principle, all owners who had installed solar panels or a photovoltaic production system in their home or property had to pay the solar tax in Spain. There were, however, some exceptions where one was exempted from the extra tax, such as installations with less than 10 kWh of electricity and users of solar panels 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 network, such as those living in nature or on a boat, didn’t have to pay the sun tax either because they do not use the fixed network or therefore do not incur any costs.

NOBODY PAID SUN TAXES

Despite all the commotion that had arisen around the sun tax in Spain, it was not paid by anyone in reality. The reason for this is that although the law on the “impuesto al sol” was adopted in 2015, the handling of it was sloppy because the ministerial decrees were lacking. No one had therefore received the notorious fines between 6,000 euros and 60 million euros and no one paid for the generation of their own energy. In addition, nobody knew how to really levy such a tax on energy consumption, and this was simply not yet possible.

Solar panels and sun tax

THE END OF THE SUN TAX IN SPAIN

The end of the “sun tax” finally happened in Spain after a couple of years, with the removal 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, the advance of the development of photovoltaic solar energy and self-consumption in the country will no longer be discouraged, quite the opposite. The “Energy Transition” is taking place, and the future belongs to renewable energy.

The ecological transition in Spain, now with fewer obstacles

The so-called sun tax limited the development of clean energy in Spain by imposing charges on the self-consumer of solar energy from his or her own home. But things have changed, and you no longer have to pay anything extra for energy generated and consumed by 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 to have it shared by several consumers. This self-consumption will be free of charge and people will have the right to self-consume the energy generated by their own solar panels with much more freedom and autonomy.

In this way, consumers now have at their disposal sustainable options at affordable prices, while reducing CO2 the 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 fees for self-consumption, the new measures provide that consumers can be compensated by the energy trader for unused energy on 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 encourage autonomously produced energy and energy not consumed is recognised. In this case, several consumers can associate in the same power generation plant, either between neighbours, 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, of the 1,196MW in total that are recorded from self-consumption.

Nowadays, thanks to the implementation of measures that promote the energy transition in our country, the consumer will not face many administrative procedures when choosing self-consumption and can benefit from the energy it produces and does not consume. This is an important advance 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, by improving the quality of the air we breathe and limiting energy dependency, there are many others that affect us on a personal and collective level.

In Spain, the average price of electricity can be reduced, without a doubt, thanks to photovoltaic solar energy, 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.

On a socioeconomic 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, as 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, by digitising electricity consumption.

The option of installing 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 far fewer formalities, but the self-consumer can really benefit from the energy it produces. The sun tax no longer exists and becoming a more independent consumer is something much simpler and faster than it was until recently.

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

In addition, consumers who have already installed solar panels in their homes can access the eSios website to consult, conveniently and quickly, 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. Without administrative barriers, and with a long list of individual and collective benefits. Are you ready to sign up and make use of solar energy?

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