What self-consumption is: Everything you need to know

What is self-consumption?

This is the ability to produce your own electricity through solar panels and in the same place where you are going to consume it, in your home or business.

Regulation of self-consumption

Self-consumption in Spain is regulated by Royal Decrees 15/2018 and 244/2019, which establish the administrative, technical and economic conditions for the self-consumption of electricity. In addition, it simplifies both its individual and collective forms, as well as the mechanism for compensating surplus energy:

• It can be collective and shared among several consumers under certain conditions, including that the supplies are located within 1,000 metres of the generation facility.
• It regulates supplies with simplified remuneration for surpluses, which enables the energy that is not consumed and fed into the grid to be remunerated simply in each consumer's own bill.

What do I need to make a self-consumption photovoltaic installation?

It is much easier than you would think to equip yourself with a photovoltaic self-consumption installation. All you really need is:

• A space big enough to install one or more solar panels. If you would like to install solar panels and still do not know how, Endesa we help you with the installation of photovoltaic panels.
• An inverter to convert direct to alternating current with the corresponding connection to the photovoltaic panels.

But to get the most out of your photovoltaic self-consumption installation, you could also add the following:

• An accumulation battery to store any energy generated by your solar panels that is left over after your daily consumption.
• A charger for electric vehicles. So you can charge your vehicle with your own self-generated electricity.

Main advantages of solar self-consumption

• Sustainability: with a solar self-consumption installation you are contributing to energy transition, avoiding emissions into the atmosphere by using renewable, inexhaustible and environmentally friendly energies. As the energy passes directly from the system to your accumulator, energy loss in transport is also avoided. Moreover, by consuming the energy at the place of production, the energy is better utilised, and transport losses are avoided.
• Savings: you can save more than 50% on your electricity bill by installing self-consumption solar panels on your single-family home. It is important to know that the more your consumption profile matches your production profile, the more savings you will make. Once you amortise the initial investment, you may find yourself in a situation where: producing your own energy is cheaper than buying it.
• The initial investment pays off quickly: obviously, equipping your home with a self-consumption system requires an investment. However, your installation will pay for itself from day one, thanks to the savings on your bill. According to our calculations, it will be fully amortised in less than ten years, and with the current subsidies for self-consumption, this period can be reduced to less than five years.
• Additional advantages: the Central Government and most regional authorities are actively supporting self-consumption, support and significant tax advantages. This support can be as much as 40% of the investment, reductions of up to half of the property tax for several years and deductions in the personal income tax of the home where the self-consumption installation has been invested.

Self-consumption categories: What are they?

There are a number of types of regulated self-consumption: Self-consumption can be individual or collective, with or without surpluses, and whether or not it is covered by the simplified compensation mechanism.

Self-consumption supply without surpluses

With this option, your installation has a zero-injection device, which prevents non-self-consumed energy from being injected into the power grid.

This is often complemented by installing a battery storage system to maximise the use of the energy produced.

Self-consumption supply with surpluses

In contrast to the previous case, the energy you produce and have left over is fed into the transmission and distribution grid via the inverter so that other consumers can use it. This injected energy is called surpluses. What is good about this type of self-consumption is that you can sell the surpluses from self-consumption that you do not use.

Clients opting for this category of self-consumption are remunerated for these surpluses, in the form of a discount on their bill, thus saving money. The amount of these savings depends on the kWh fed into the grid, and the compensation price applied.

But this amount may not exceed the so-called compensation limit, meaning you cannot be financially compensated for more than the kWh you consumed from the grid.

There are some prerequisites to be eligible for this option:

• The total power may not exceed 500kW in production facilities.
• The consumer and the producer have to enter into a surplus compensation contract.

If the electricity supply is contracted on the regulated market, the surplus price will vary according to the price on the wholesale electricity market.

In the free market, it is possible to contract a tariff with the supplier that sets the economic value of these surpluses. This is known as: self-consumption with a surplus not eligible for compensation.

In this case, the surplus energy is injected into the transmission and distribution grid, but not according to the compensation system as in the previous option, but rather the surplus generated is sold directly on the electricity market and distributed according to the energy price at any given time.

How to contract a self-consumption tariff with Endesa

If you are interested in self-consumption, there are two possible situations:

• You don't have your photovoltaic system yet: in this case, we recommend a comprehensive solution that takes care of the installation, the management of administrative procedures and financial support, maintenance and even financing. If you want to find out more, go to Solar Photovoltaic Solutions.
• You already have your photovoltaic installation: in that case, we recommend the best tariff to jump on the clean energy bandwagon. Sign up for Solar Simply with virtual battery, and start saving.