Solar panel craze in Malaga: ten thousand homeowners in the province have installed them in just two years

The booming craze to produce one's own solar energy to cover power needs in the home and, incidentally, achieve undeniable savings seems to spread to an increasing number of households in Malaga province. This trend has reached 28,000 homes altogether, 10,000 of which have been added in the past two years, making Malaga the second Andalusian province in this ranking. Seville, with 33,000 households comes first.

The solar-powered households in Malaga account for the production of 232.8MW generated - an increase from the 153MW produced in 2023. Industrial uses, institutions and public infrastructure continue to account for most of the production.

What is the reason for this growth? According to the Andalusian energy agency, the cause can be attributed to the boom in the sector and "the push of the regional government to advance these installations" through the PUES management tool, which "can be accessed directly by companies and users of these installations to legalise them telematically, making the administrative procedure quick and simple".

The paradigm shift is more than evident. If we look back ten years, we can see that Malaga had 52.8MW of photovoltaic power connected to the grid. Now it has 648MW - 12 times more.

The solar self-consumption installation includes the panels themselves, electronic equipment, wiring and a meter. Batteries and a management system that can be controlled via a mobile app or web can be added to the set. The whole system is connected to the grid. When the installation is producing energy, it is consumed directly, but when it is not being generated (nights, for example) the energy continues to come from the grid.

What happens when there is more production than is consumed? The surplus is fed into the grid. For this, the user receives a discount on the bill.

This can be done on an individual basis, for households, business or industry, or collectively. Installations can be located up to 500 metres away in the case of land (2,000 if for industry).

In the Andalucía region there are more than 8,300 installations in Almeria; 14,800 in Cadiz; more than 13,900 in Cordoba; more than 17,300 in Granada; more than 6,400 in Huelva; more than 11,700 in Jaén; more than 20,800 in Malaga; and more than 33,300 in Seville.

In Malaga, photovoltaic energy is the main renewable energy source, in fierce competition with wind power. It accounts for 7.3% of Andalusian solar power. The sum of renewables in Malaga is roughly equivalent to the needs of 650,000 homes. We are talking about the sum of biogas, biomass, wind, photovoltaic and hydroelectric.

In total in Spain, there are 73,398 households supplied by solar power. Contrary to the upward trend in Malaga province, the one at the national level is contracting due to the disappearance of the incentives of the European Next Generation programme and the stabilisation of energy prices after the crisis in recent years. To achieve the objectives set for 2030, the Ministry of Ecological Transition needs to simplify and eliminate as many of the bureaucrating procedures as possible, facilitate access to the grid and offer certainty to both users and investors.

The energy bill for households with solar panels can be 64% less than of those dependent on fossil fuels.

According to Endesa data, collective self-consumption in the province of Malaga has experienced a notable boost in the last year, with growth of 127%. This increase brings the total number of active supplies to 638, following the incorporation of 357 new contracts since last year, doubling the number previously recorded.

Solar thermal energy is another technology that uses the sun to produce hot water. Andalucía is the national leader in this area and Malaga accounts for almost 20% of the regional share.

Large installations of this type in the province include the Antequera hospital; energy sales facilities in Benalmádena, Coín and Torremolinos; industrial uses in Villanueva del Trabuco and a hotel in Ojén.