The typical self-consumption installation carried out in Spain is located in a single-family house, consists of between eight and nine solar panels and requires an initial investment of around 6,600 euros, of which it is possible to recover around half thanks to everything type of state, regional and municipal aid that exists. Aside from these figures, what the consumer notices on average in their electricity bill is about 856 euros in annual savings, 71 euros per month.
These data are part of the study on the profile of domestic self-consumption users and the costs and savings associated with it that the Samara company has prepared based on its activity so far in 2023, the year in which the sector predicted a “slowdown” after the boom of 2021 and 2022, among people who had solar panels installed and also based on projects carried out although they were ultimately not carried out. In total, there are 3,400 cases that allow us to make an “x-ray” of who engages in self-consumption, at what cost and what savings they obtain.
Investment and aid
The “barometer” indicates that the average initial investment that is necessary to install solar panels at home is 6,646 euros, depending on the size of the installation or the energy needs of each home.. An average of 8.5 plates are usually installed on each roof.
Of that first amount, the study calculates that it is possible to recover almost half – 45.6% – with the different public aid that exists, despite the fact that the highest ones, those from European funds, take time to arrive.. In any case, it estimates that households with self-consumption can recover an average of 3,035 euros thanks to the Next Generation funds distributed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition among the communities, which send them to users; the discounts that the different localities make in the Real Estate Tax (IBI), and the personal income tax deduction of 20, 40 or 60% depending on the energy efficiency improvement achieved by self-consumption for each home.
Once the self-consumption installation is running, the average electricity savings that Samara calculates is 856 euros per year, about 71 euros on each month's bill.
The average amortization period of the investment in self-consumption is 6.3 years, in which the savings on the bill will coexist with continuing to pay the plates. However, these have a useful life of about 25 years, so beyond that first period there are another almost 19 years of “net savings”. That is, the household will have already finished paying for the installation and will maintain the benefit of electricity savings.
Man between 45 and 54 years old
In addition to average costs and savings, the Samara study creates a profile of the person who installs domestic self-consumption or, at least, of those who were interested in it and requested a technical study.
What the data says, in line with the difficulties that the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) itself identifies in neighboring blocks, is that in the vast majority of cases self-consumption is located in single-family homes. , 94.5%.
The barometer also says that it is a matter of men more than women, or at least they are the ones who in a much greater proportion (77.7% compared to 22.3%) request the technical study or are in charge of the installation of the photovoltaic panels. The age measurement is 45 and 54 years (35%), followed by 55 and 64 (26.3%) and, to a lesser extent, between 35 and 44% (21.3%).
Self-consumption is merely testimonial (1.96%) in the youngest age groups, with serious difficulties in accessing home ownership. “The population between 25 and 34 years old, more inclined to live in rent, represents only 1.96% of the total of those interested. With the deployment of collective self-consumption and its presence in neighboring communities, we hope to see a greater representation of that age group in the coming years,” says Manel Pujol, co-founder of Samara,