The state permanently encourages investment in home photovoltaic installations. Undoubtedly, the use of renewable energy is not only a way to protect the environment, but also an effective safeguard in the event of an energy crisis. However, recently there have been more and more negative voices regarding the sense of investing in home installations. Does this herald the end of photovoltaics?
Photovoltaics are still popular. At the end of August this year, the installed capacity of photovoltaics in Poland amounted to almost 15 GW. The vast majority were prosumer installations. In August alone, 17 thousand new micro-installations were added to the pool of over 1.3 million. Unfortunately, many prosumers are not delighted with the investment. Negative voices are increasingly being raised regarding the new net-billing settlement system, or unfair exclusions from protective benefits resulting from the difficult situation on the electricity market.
Net-billing worse than the discount system?
From the second quarter of 2022, new prosumers must settle in the net-billing system, which replaced the previously used discount system. The change results from the directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018, which promoted the use of energy from renewable sources, as well as the directive of 5 June 2019 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity. The amendment, which entered into force at the beginning of the second quarter of 2022, was announced in the second half of December 2021. Investors who wanted to use the Mój Prąd program had just over 3 months to prepare for the changes to the billing system, including adapting investment plans to the new conditions. In other words, the installation design prepared for the discount system had to be adapted to the new system in a short time. This caused widespread frustration.
The profitability of net-billing is also being questioned today. After a financially beneficial start, prosumers are now having to deal with low prices for energy fed into the grid. Negative energy prices have appeared for the second time this year, which is also not encouraging. All of this significantly lengthens the payback period for photovoltaic investments.
Unfavorable changes in the My Electricity program
The first editions of the Mój Prąd program were based on the old system – net-metering (discount system). From April 1, 2022, one of the criteria for becoming a beneficiary of the program is switching to net-billing. Prosumers who settled in the old system were naturally excluded from the program. They cannot therefore benefit from funding for an ecological heat source or energy storage, i.e. elements that increase the efficiency of a home installation and generate even greater savings.
Also check out: Rates for energy fed into the grid are constantly falling – what does this mean for prosumers?
The My Electricity program discriminates against digitally excluded people
The entire procedure within the Mój Prąd program is based on digital communication – from submitting an application to concluding an agreement. This is a big problem for digitally excluded people. These are usually residents of villages located far from larger agglomerations or elderly people who do not have access to the internet. It is possible to complete all formalities through a proxy. However, the condition is to have a trusted profile and a qualified signature. Unfortunately, many digitally excluded people declare that they do not have such a person in their environment.
Prosumers cannot count on protective benefits
A big problem for today's prosumers is the lack of possibility of obtaining public financial support due to the situation on the electricity market. Prosumers are not entitled to an electricity allowance.
Unfortunately, unfavorable changes in energy prices have a negative impact on the wallets of owners of photovoltaic micro-installations. This casts doubt on the profitability of investment in photovoltaics, which is supposed to generate savings.
Is investing in photovoltaics still profitable?
Photovoltaics was, is and will be an ecological solution that ensures a safe energy future. That is why it is worth investing in it. However, the best choice is a micro-installation with an energy storage, which allows for increased self-consumption and thus improves the efficiency of the entire photovoltaic set. Buying an energy bank is of particular importance today due to the increasingly frequent negative energy prices and falling rates for selling electricity to the grid.
