THE number of homeowners installing solar panels on their properties in Spain fell by almost 50% last year as enthusiasm for solar energy begins to wane across Europe.
Almost 112,000 Spanish households installed solar panels in 2023, roughly half of the 217,000 residential solar energy installations constructed in 2022.
Analysts claim that falling energy prices and a squeeze on household budgets thanks to rampant inflation have stymied an appetite for solar energy.
The newly-released figures represent the first fall in the installation of solar panels since 2018.
Despite being Europe’s sunniest country, Spain lags behind other countries in the production of renewable, solar energy, including the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
The industrial sector also installed 27% less solar in 2023, with 1.9 gigawatts of capacity added to the network.
Experts claim that the ‘sun tax’, a controversial levy implemented on energy obtained through solar panels in 2015 but abolished in 2018, has left Spain playing catch up against its European peers.
Delays in crucial subsidy payments, averaging at around a year, are also dissuading households from investing in photovoltaic panels.
According to the Association of Renewable Energy Companies (APPA), an average domestic solar energy system costs €7,000.
Based on 2023’s energy prices, it would take seven years to recover this investment.
Christopher Cederskog, chief executive of Sunhero, a supplier of solar panels, warned that delays to subsidies risked excluding the poorest in society from cheaper energy as many would feel unable to commit to the initial outlay.
However, a spokesperson for the energy ministry claimed that the government remains committed to expanding solar energy, with past success evidenced by the removal of the ‘sun tax’, an improvement to regulatory framework and a 14-fold increase in market capacity since 2018.
Currently, only 7% of single-family homes and 2% of businesses in Spain receive energy from their own solar panels.
Spain remains on track to reach a 2030 target of 19 gigawatts of solar panel installations on homes and company-buildings.
However, with over two-thirds of Spaniards living in apartment blocks, many within the energy sector believe that the future lies in shared projects, whereby solar panels would provide energy to a group of households rather than just one.
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