Analysis and Development Proposals for Energy Communities Based on Solar Photovoltaic Installations

The knowledge offered consists of analysis and consultancy to support the optimal design and development of energy communities that jointly benefit from solar photovoltaic installations. These shared self-consumption arrangements can be established in residential communities, industrial estates, commercial parks and residential areas, where participants aim to benefit collectively from the same electricity generation facilities or other measures located within the community. This can improve the use of electricity generation capacity, increase energy efficiency and support the development of sustainable mobility systems, with potential for demand management in the future. To develop energy communities effectively, all relevant variables must be analysed, as these communities may engage in various activities, including producing, consuming, storing, sharing and selling energy. Key factors include the location of the main generation facility, whether the connection is made through the public grid or an internal network, and the allocation or participation coefficients assigned to each consumer within the energy community. Examples of these activities include self-consumption and distributed generation. In residential areas, energy communities can help many households save money and address energy poverty. They can also reduce dependence on conventional electricity suppliers and increase industrial competitiveness. The environmental benefits include lower energy consumption, a greater share of distributed renewable energy and reduced use of fossil fuels. Social benefits include greater citizen empowerment, local job creation, stronger community networks and the reinvestment of project benefits in the community’s priority needs.

Under European regulations, energy communities allow citizens to collectively produce, consume, store, share and sell renewable energy. Their primary purpose is to deliver environmental, economic and social benefits to their members and the communities in which they operate, rather than to generate financial returns. They should therefore not be viewed as business models designed to maximise profits, but as participatory and equitable ways for consumers to achieve financial savings and environmental and social benefits. The proposed expertise focuses on advising on the most suitable approach to establishing, developing and sizing an energy community using one or more distributed solar photovoltaic generation systems. These systems may be connected to some participants through an internal network, while other members may be connected via the public electricity grid. These shared self-consumption arrangements can be implemented in residential communities, industrial estates, commercial parks and residential areas, enabling participants to benefit collectively from the same electricity generation facilities or other measures within the community. Installation companies and engineering firms undertaking such projects may also require specialised advice at every stage of the development and implementation of these shared self-consumption schemes.

The first regulatory framework for self-consumption using solar photovoltaic installations was introduced in December 2015 through Royal Decree 900/2015 (https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-10927). However, Royal Decree 244/2019 of 5 April, regulating the administrative, technical and economic conditions for electricity self-consumption (https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2019-5089), introduced significant changes that facilitated the development of renewable self-consumption systems, including solar photovoltaic installations, for both individual and collective or shared use. It also introduced options such as direct self-consumption, the use of energy storage systems (batteries) and, where applicable, the export of surplus electricity to the distribution grid in exchange for compensation through the simplified compensation mechanism. Energy communities are one form of shared self-consumption. However, their scope, operation and implementation are more complex and require a more specific regulatory framework to guide their development. In this context, the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge recently published a document entitled “Proposal for a Royal Decree to Regulate Energy Communities” (https://www.miteco.gob.es/es/prensa/ultimas-noticias/el-miteco-publica-la-propuesta-del-real-decreto-para-regular-las-comunidades-energ%C3%A9ticas/tcm:30-561485). Our research group’s advantage lies in addressing a gap in the services traditionally offered by companies in the sector. Existing consultancy and design services for collective photovoltaic self-consumption have generally focused on small- or medium-sized installations serving a limited number of users, rather than energy communities involving dozens or hundreds of participants and installed capacities of tens or hundreds of kWp. Our consultancy assesses all the factors involved in designing these installations, from an electrical perspective—including the maximum permitted distance, the grid connection point for feeding electricity into the network, the peak installed capacity, the expected generation profile and the feasibility of incorporating energy storage systems such as lithium batteries—to an energy perspective. This includes analysing participants’ electricity demand patterns, using historical data to assess daily, monthly and annual consumption profiles. We also evaluate the project’s economic viability and the savings it can deliver from the outset throughout the installation’s useful life.

The current regulatory framework, established by Royal Decree 244/2019 of April 2019, supports the installation of collective photovoltaic self-consumption systems through energy communities. However, these installations must be properly designed, calculated and sized to maximise the energy savings and efficiency benefits they provide to end users. Renewable energy communities and citizen energy communities aim to deliver environmental, economic or social benefits to their members or to the local areas in which they operate. In certain cases, they may be eligible for specific allocations in renewable energy auctions under the Economic Regime for Renewable Energy, as well as reserved grid capacity at electricity network nodes subject to competitive allocation. All these parameters must be properly assessed before firm proposals are made for designing photovoltaic systems for energy communities.

• Residential Communities and Neighbourhoods.
• Industrial Estates and Commercial Parks.
• Public Authorities (Municipal and Provincial Councils) and Local Development Agencies.
• Installation Companies and Engineering Consultancies (as a specialised consultancy service).
• Energy Developers and Energy Service Companies (ESCOs).

Sergio Valero Verdú – University Research Institute for Engineering