Solar energy in Spain

Just had 10 panels installed by Iberdrola in Denia on Friday. The whole process was pretty quick and straightforward. We should be able to generate 10x 500W = 5,000W of power, but despite full sun, we’ve only made it up to 4,000W. I don’t know if that’s because of the angle of the panels or their position. We are ‘energy independent’ while the panels are working during daylight, and any excess goes to the grid and we will be paid for that energy I understand at 10c per unit. At night, we are not generating energy so use the grid and are charged at 20c per unit. We don’t have a battery. If we did, perhaps we’d be totally independent. It remains to be seen over the course of a year how the bills work out and how long the investment will take to pay off. Happy to answer any questions! 

We had 6 panels installed in May. We started the process on Iberdrola´s website in February. They have to obtain a licence from Denia council which appears to be the bulk of the delay. You pay for the licence(s) (about €60) after they apply for it. They guide you through it and it´s all straightforward. You can apply to the EU for a grant of €1620 plus a 30% reduction in your council tax for 3 years so a reduction of about €2000 on the cost quoted.

The nominal rating of each panel is 440 watts so about 2.7 kwatts at peak. The angle of installation and orientation affects the output. There are websites where you can enter your location and it tells you the best angle for max summer or winter output. In Denia´s case it´s 15° from the horizontal (summer). Ours are installed flat on the garage roof so we get less than 2.7 kw.

Iberdrola pass the work on to an approved installer who took one day to do the work. The system is linked via an app for fault detection and monitoring output. It produces nice graphs etc and tells you how much carbon, trees and coal equivalent you´ve saved. On a sunny day we can save 90% but we´ve had a lot of cloudy days recently so sometimes 50%. My first bill is due at the end of June.

Plus, it will help to defeat Putin.

Thank you so much for your reply. Have to research more. Panels are large so 10 must have needed considérable roof space. Was wondering why no battery. More research then.

Just an observation from our installation in the UK.  It is rated at 4kW but the only time I have ever seen anything near to 4kW was on a brilliant sunny day in WINTER when we hit 3.6kW

The output of solar panels drops off the hotter they get.  The figures given by installers should always be taken with a very large pinch of salt as they will be based on ideal conditions that probably you will never see..

An insolation map for you area will give potential output.  The panels MUST be installed at the recommended inclination for your area, not just set flat on the angle of the roof whatever that might be.  Extra bracketry might be needed to achieve this.

Thank you. So which alternative energy source is Good? My research is confusing and do no longer know where to look.

You are very limited for alternative energy sources. Just steer away from heat pumps.

Solar elecrtical panels with a battery for nights will probably give you a good result. But in winter you might be struggling and have to fall back on another fuel.

Another much more expensive solar option is to use panels that heat water which you store in a large cylinder. This can be used to heat your house but does not produce electricity. But as heating will be your biggest demand it could work.

You would get unlimited baths and surplus heat could be put into the pool but this is getting very costly.

Thank you for your help. Shall have to research further. Wish me luck please.

Yes, take it easy and check out as many options as you can. Beware of so-called experts, check them out well before parting with any hard earned money. Go and view systems they have installed, don't take their word for it.

Some years ago people in this area were cheated out of thousands by a German guy selling a parabolic mirror system which tracked the sun. Had they got it, would have been incredible.

Let us know how you get on and if I can help drop me a PM, I have looked at a lot of different systems over the years.  Good luck.