Malta - British Expat Forum

Interested in cutting your energy bills by installing grid connected photovoltaic panels (PV) on your roof ? Having recently obtained a grant and had a PV system installed, one of Gozo SPCA's supporters is willing to give free and impartial advice (although a donation to Gozo SPCA is always welcomed) on various aspects - the technical options and performance, application procedures, investment and payback returns. He is willing to share his knowledge and experience, including site visits with any interested persons, as he would like to see more renewables being used on Gozo.

There are currently 50% grants for businesses being offered by Malta Enterprise and the rumour is that Malta Resources Authority will be offering another round of grants for domestic users later this year. They will need to do something if Malta is to meet its EU 2020 obligations. If someone has capital in the bank, earning miserable interest rates, then the return on investment of installing PV systems becomes rather attractive, even without further electricity tariff increases.

Any chance of a synopsis here (not that I'm currently in a position to use one but curious)? For instance:

How much does it cost (before and after grant) including the necessary wiring, controls and modification to meter and consumer unit?

How much energy can it produce for how many hours summer and winter (does it work in the "bright overcast" weather that we get in winter)

Can you store the excess power or sell it back to Enemalta (thinking about it typically it would seem that most power is generated when least needed and least when most needed)

Space and planning requirements (compared to a typical solar water heater (say 3-4sqm)?)?

How long will it last and is any maintenance required?

I'll pass on your questions - thanks

Two more considerations would be

a) three phase versus single phase and

b) government/Enemalta policy for future pricing for selling overproduced power to Enemalta.

reply promised shortly

How much does it cost (before and after grant) including the necessary wiring, controls and modification to meter and consumer unit?
PV systems are relatively expensive (compared to other energy saving and generating systems) and represent a long term strategic investment. However the PV industry is expanding rapidly with China becoming one of the largest PV panel producers and unit prices are falling. Recognising this, many European governments are providing incentives for micro generation of power by PV systems in the domestic and commercial market. These incentives generally come in one of two forms; an attractive ‘feed in’ tariff, as in Germany, whereby electricity generated by your PV system or the surplus (PV power generated but not used)energy, is sold to the grid at a premium tariff (obviously higher than the consumption tariff); or as in Malta, a subsidy is offered on the initial investment followed by ‘net’ metering, that is you pay for the units you consume minus what you generate, with therefore no incentive or advantage to generate more than you consume (over let’s say a 12 month period). The advantage of the Maltese approach is that you get your money up front and know your expected payback period, at current tariffs. The recent grant from MRA for domestic customers was 50% of installation cost up to a maximum of €3000. Current grants for businesses are also 50%, from €12,500 minimum to €100,000 maximum. These subsidies effectively halve the payback period, to about 9-11 years for domestic PV installations and 4-6 years for commercial installations. Commercial installations, being larger, benefit from economies of scale plus their capital investment can be set against tax over 6 years. There are good reasons in Malta, to feel these payback periods are on the conservative side; energy prices are more likely to increase than decrease, ENE is to be privatised in the near future and Malta has already put in place the legal framework for a feed-in tariff, which whilst at 7 cents a unit is currently worthless, can in future be increased.
So, in summary, for about €6000 (a net outlay of about €3000) you can install a PV system generating about 1500 units (kwh) per year, with a current payback period of 10 years followed by a further 20 years of ‘free’ electricity. The only other installation cost is a one off charge to ENE to change the meter (€47 single phase and €105 for 3 phase)

How much energy can it produce for how many hours summer and winter (does it work in the "bright overcast" weather that we get in winter)
PV panels respond to light. My system starts generating electricity from about 7 am and continues until about 7pm in these mid August days. The power generated is proportional to the intensity of light so direct sunlight will produce the most power but even diffused light from cloud will still generate power. Malta has one of the highest if not the highest potential for solar energy production (in terms of sunny days) within the EU. Every 1 Kilowatt (kw) of installed PV panels should produce about 1600 units (kw hours) of electricity per annum in Malta. In the 18 days since my 1.26kw rated system was installed, it has generated 130 units or an average of 7.2 kwh per day.

Can you store the excess power or sell it back to Enemalta (thinking about it typically it would seem that most power is generated when least needed and least when most needed)
Grid connected PV systems do not store electricity so the excess you generate during the day goes to ENE and the grid making your home a ‘micro power station’. Since Gozo’s electricity (biggest demand is daytime) comes on a cable from fossil fuel powered generators on Malta (which itself is not connected to the European grid) this creates quite a ‘feel good’ factor, if nothing else! I currently have the old disk and dials electricity meter. Whilst I enjoy seeing this meter spin backwards all day, reducing my apparent and billed consumption, it tells ENE nothing about what I consume nor what I generate. ENE will therefore be installing a dual digital meter shortly, which will indicate both of these and I’ll be billed for just the difference. I expect that to be well under 2000 units per annum, putting me in the band for the further 25% eco-reduction discount.

Space and planning requirements (compared to a typical solar water heater (say 3-4sqm)?)?
Solar water heating is a much more efficient way of capturing solar radiation than PV panels, so for a given energy production, the solar water heater ‘footprint’ will be smaller. Unfortunately the market for hot water, particularly in summer, is limited! My 1.26 kw PV system would have a minimum ‘footprint’ of 9 sqm if it was in an E-W orientated rectangle of 6m x 1.5m. Instead I have two rows of panels separated by 1m (to avoid winter shadow from the front row on to back row) giving a total roof footprint of 12 sqm. It is vital that the panels do not lie in any direct shadow, from buildings or trees, as this really kills performance, especially through the middle of the day.
Provided you stay within your roof airspace, no MEPA permit is required for a PV installation.


How long will it last and is any maintenance required?
Expect a working life of at least 30 years from good quality PV panels with no more than a 5% loss of efficiency. Quality PV panel manufactures will offer 20 year performance guarantees. The Inverter (transformer) unit that converts the DC of the panel to 240v AC comes typically with a 5 year guarantee but represents only 10-15% of system cost.
Maintenance – basically none except to keep the panels clean. Dust and bird droppings reduce light absorption. Winter rain will do the work otherwise take a trip to your roof with a damp sponge or duster once a week during the summer months.

Portability.
PV systems are very portable. My system was set up and running within six hours. Disconnecting, dismantling and moving to another property on Gozo would be no more than a day’s work.
For installing in rented properties, the main issue is that MRA grant applications have to come from the person whose name is on the Water Services and ENE utility bill. If it is the long term tenant, it would obviously be also advisable to get the written permission of the owner of the property and ensure it is covered in insurance policies etc.

Just to clarify, the above post was made by the gentleman who has made the offer to help.

Botros - thanks for a great first post, and welcome to the forum

> Botros - thanks for a great first post, and welcome to the forum

Yes indeed. Seems to cover everything.

I can't help feeling that they'll have to come down in both price and size a bit to get mass appeal.

I wonder what happens in the event of a power cut, such as a few weeks ago when everything north of Victoria was out. Do they continue to provide power locally (potentially useful for businesses and home workers) and do they disconnect from the grid for the safety of engineers working on a fault?

In the event of a power cut, your power is unfortunately also cut as the Inverter needs the mains signal/voltage to activate it, probably also a safety consideration.

Therefore if you are away from home during a thunderstrm and your power supply trips, you need to reconnect to the mains before your PV system will re-activate

Could you use a UPS in a power cut to keep it going ?

Interesting exam question Mark. Don't know the answer but will find out.

Hi Botros, thanks from me too. Welcome to the forum!

Regarding use of a UPS to 'substitute' for mains voltage in the event of a 'sunny day' day time power cut, in order to capitalise on what power a PV system can produce in lieu of ENE; I have been advised as follows;

Not possible by means of UPS alone due to how a UPS responds to power outages. However, if a home or business has operational needs or equipment that requires constant power, you will be investing in more substantial 'off grid' battery/inverter or generator back up systems, irrespective of whether you have a PV system or not. In which case, a PV system can feed into that back up system.

However, investing in such back up systems, just because you happen to have a PV system, would not make sense or be cost effective.

Hope this is 'sort of' logical and clear?

complete sense, thanks

So if your house mains does trip frequently (like ours does several times each major thunderstorm), its important to have somebody to check it, and reset if necessary, if one goes away in the stormy season.

My panels were installed today, all made painless by Botros above

total cost of € 7,000 odd, less the € 3,000 subsidy = € 4,000 for a 1.74KWp system, which should generate 1600 to 1650 x 1.74 = 2,800 to 2,900 KWh per annum. As my system is in Gozo, the govt will pay me 28c per KWh (only 25c in Malta) = about € 800 a year, so a 5 year payback.

This is much quicker than when this thread started, as back then you only got the price of your marginal consumed units, or about 16-20c per KWh