Only country in the world charging for the use of the sun

[shobha nagrani]

Spain's sunshine toll: Row over proposed solar tax

"We will be the only country in the world charging for the use of the sun," says Jaume Serrasolses.

"Strange things are happening in Spain. This is one of them."

Mr Serrasolses, the secretary of an association promoting the use of solar energy, SEBA, is referring to the government's proposal for a tax solely on those who generate their own electricity.

They would pay a backup toll for the power from their solar panels, in addition to the access toll paid by everyone who consumes electricity from the conventional grid.

Although the tolls vary, if you pay an access toll of 0.053 euros per kWh, you could face a backup toll of 0.068 euros per kWh.

The new tax would extend the average time it would take for solar panels to pay for themselves from eight to 25 years, according to the solar lobby.

The government says that with increasing "self-consumption", the income for conventional energy systems will decrease, but grid maintenance will cost the same.

"If I produce my own energy, but am connected to the grid, having the backup in case my production fails, I have to contribute to the cost of the entire system," says Energy Secretary Alberto Nadal.

The government is hoping the energy reform will settle a debt of 26bn euros (£22bn; $35bn), which has built up over years as a result of regulating energy costs and prices.

Broken promises

This is just the latest in a series of setbacks for the renewable energy sector.

The government has gradually lowered a feed-in tariff - a scheme that paid people to produce their own "green electricity" - first reducing the period over which it was paid, then limiting it to already existing installations and finally an energy reform in July opened up the possibility of withdrawing it retroactively.

At the same time it has not endorsed net metering, a policy allowing solar panel owners to send surplus energy to the grid and use it later. The idea was part of a previous proposal but was not included in the latest reform proposal.

But while the government may have been heavily promoting solar energy six years ago, those who followed that lead may now pay dearly for their investment.

"The majority are people like your or my parents who at one time had savings and wanted to make an investment with a better return," says Piet Holtrop, a Dutch lawyer who is defending over 1,000 of them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24272061

[strongjo]

I think  all countries need to use sun energy .