Solar panels to slash electricity bill by half for Malaga's provincial authority

The Diputacion, Malaga's provincial authority, is installing solar panels to reduce its electricity bill. The main building that houses its headquarters on Calle Pacífico, will have a photovoltaic installation that will allow it to generate almost half of the electricity it needs every day. The ambitious project aims to cover all the roofs of the complex, but for the moment phase one will be carried out on the main building, whose façade faces the sea.

The initiative, which has been put out to tender with a maximum budget of 247,840 euros and an execution period of two months, involves the installation of 356 modules of 445 watts each, distributed around the entire perimeter of the roof. The peak power will be 158.42 kWp, which will be reached when all the modules are at full capacity during the middle hours of the day. Under these conditions, they would provide at least 40 per cent of the energy consumed in the building throughout the year.

The savings on electricity bills will therefore be considerable. As far as the visual impact is concerned, the specifications make it clear that the solar panels will not be visible from the outside, so that they are fully integrated architecturally. The devices will be guaranteed for a minimum of 10 years and a lifetime of 25 years will be required for a return on investment.

Once this first phase has been completed, the provincial authority’s intention is to install photovoltaic panels on the roof of the second building, which will be larger so that, between the two buildings, there will be almost 2,000 panels with an installed power of 875 kWp. In total, the investment will amount to 1.3 million euros.

According to the estimates of the technicians, when the entire plant becomes a reality, an annual energy output of 1,300 megawatts/hour will be generated, which will provide a saving of almost half of the current consumption of both facilities. In economic terms, the cost would be reduced by around 120,000 euros per year. To get an idea, the annual cost of the entire Diputacion block, which in addition to the two headquarters buildings also includes La Térmica, the Centro de Ediciones and the Parque Móvil, is around 400,000 euros.