The installation of solar panels has been in many of the conversations between friends and neighbors for months, although interest has grown since Russian troops invaded Ukraine. With energy prices skyrocketing, the possibility of having an installation of photovoltaic panels on the roof and generating our own energy is very attractive.
On the other hand, most city councils stimulate the energy transition with generous discounts on the Real Estate Tax (IBI) and, in addition to other aid, the desired Next Generation funds also subsidize these facilities. An important boost that, together with the indisputable savings provided by self-consumption, means that the return on investment occurs in a short time.
Beyond the solid economic arguments, we cannot forget the growing awareness of the climate emergency. Effective measures must be taken against carbonization and excessive dependence on fossil fuels. In this context, solar energy emerges as a solid and efficient alternative, both on a domestic scale and in industry.
Given such a scenario, the number of offers circulating in the market for the installation of photovoltaic solar panels has exploded exponentially in the last year. Proposals in which there are significant price differences, technological arguments that are not always easy to understand and compare for the uninitiated. In an attempt to provide answers to the many questions that arise from any of these proposals, Dialogues at La Vanguardia has brought together five experts involved in different phases of the value chain behind any photovoltaic solar panel installation. A sector that is experiencing a sweet moment, without a doubt, but that is going through a period of decisive growth and consolidation and not without risks that must be managed.
It seems inevitable that consumers will look at the investment cost of any of the many proposals they receive. For Juan García Buitrón, commercial manager for Spain and Portugal of the Californian Enphase, the company in the sector with the highest market capitalization, "it is easier to sell cheaper, but what the buyer should look at is the value that it will generate the facility you choose.
In this sense, a factor to take into account is the warranty period offered by the manufacturers of the different elements of a photovoltaic installation. In the case of Enphase, which is responsible for producing microinverters, the components that transform solar energy into energy that can be fed into the network, this period is 25 years. This variable, transferable to the rest of the basic parts of a self-consumption solar installation, has an important weight when deciding on a proposal. But it is not the only one. Ángel Baños, co-founder and manager of the Catalan engineering company Solideo, explains that the model of the installation and the control it provides over the use of solar energy is very important. Baños clarifies that "a system of microinverters, instead of using a single central inverter, extends the hours of energy production since this type of equipment generates with the first rays of the sun".
The person in charge of Solideo assures that "no one is interested in having a production peak at noon in the middle of August, but rather that at seven or eight in the afternoon the panels generate the energy that you are consuming at home". An installation with microinverters "allows us at Solideo to control their performance and know if any problem has arisen, such as the appearance of dirt on some plates, which requires an intervention to avoid losing efficiency," explains Baños. Daniel Roca, manager of Baywa Spain, a distribution company specializing in photovoltaic components, agrees with this idea and adds that "in order to guarantee a good return on investment, it is essential to have an efficient installation".
Escolies clarifies that technological evolutions can occur that “justify a change after a few years”. That reality is not an argument in favor of delaying the decision. "You have to lose your fear because it makes no sense to wait for a more efficient technology to exist in a few years," explains Roca. The manager of Solideo expresses himself in the same vein, considering that "a well-conceived installation of photovoltaic panels generates savings from day one". For the CEO of Tenka Sol, "the families that installed solar panels seven years ago have been saving for seven years, but the long-term guarantee tells them that they have a quality product and a service in the face of any eventuality that justifies a larger investment at the beginning" . Beyond the components used, Ángel Baños highlights the importance of the installation process, which “unfortunately is not given the importance it deserves”. The person in charge of Solideo explains that in addition to using the most suitable and sized components for the needs of each client, "it is essential that the installation process is carried out by specialized personnel and that materials are used that allow the structure to be maintained in good condition during the 25 years that it is going to spend outdoors, that the wiring is level or that it is well piped”.
"The best way to control the quality of the project and the installation is to have our own staff with the appropriate training," says María Fraile, director of corporate services at Solideo. The executive explains that we are living "at a time when the sector is booming, there are more and more companies and few qualified personnel". Fraile affirms that “we must value the company culture to retain talent”. The installation is, therefore, a determining phase of the process and the companies that are dedicated to it are those that have direct contact with the final customer. The head of Baywa Spain explains that "any young industry like ours requires a period of consolidation in which the market itself ends up separating the grain from the chaff". For his part, Juan García Buitrón, from Enphase, explains that "consumers must be educated to go beyond marketing and at this point both the Administration and the media have a decisive role."
Ángel Baños affirms that “the first thing that the client must value is that the company to which he is going to entrust the installation is of a well-known brand, has a certain reputation, that offers references and that shows him the experience that it has”. For Solideo's manager, after-sales service and advisory capacity are essential. “This sector is going to continue to evolve and you have to trust companies that are capable of responding to the needs that you will have in your home in 4 or 5 years,” says Baños. For the experts, the subsidies and aid that the Administration grants to the installation of solar panels have a positive effect because they pull demand, but they agree that the numbers come out with and without a subsidy. However, there is also unanimity in demanding that the Administrations adopt a more educational role in favor of the real value of the energy transition and help the sector.
In this sense, María Fraile points out that "there are not enough training itineraries that help young people prepare to join a sector that is growing and will continue to grow." Daniel Roca, for his part, emphasizes that from the sector "we are helping Spain move towards renewable energies and it would be desirable to simplify some procedures that are true unjustifiable obstacles when registering an installation or homologating a product". Although the price of energy is the same throughout the country, the truth is that the degree of maturity and current implementation of self-consumption is not the same in all territories. The corporate director of Solideo affirms that "our company is immersed in an expansion process to provide national coverage and we are verifying that the challenges we face are not going to be the same because the degree of awareness may vary".
The experts summoned by La Vanguardia point out that the commitment to this type of domestic installation is a path of no return, but Ángel Baños points out that “many people can start this route with frustration if they do it without adequate advice.
