Giovanni Bricconi

Some time has passed since I wrote about climate change: I have been busy, but progressed on my solar panels project. You will see that this requires a lot of time here in France.

Photo by Bill Mead on Unsplash

In April this year, I started asking myself if I could put solar panels on my roof and what benefits I can expect. I could just switch to a contract that guarantees green electricity, but I liked the idea of being part of the energy transition. I like also the idea of being more independent from electric companies: now that there is a war in Ukraine, and all the energy prices explose, I feel right.

But what should you do to have solar panels on your roof? It is not an easy task where you choose a module, and you install it yourself. You need the right stuff to fix them, the right cables, the inverter, fill many administrative papers… too many things to know. So I asked for a quote to three different big companies. As I am a stranger here in France and I don’t have many contacts, I preferred to avoid asking quotes to small shops.

I got a wide range of prices: 8000 euros, 10000 euros and 13000 euros for the same installation of 3 kw peak power. I checked the reputation of the cheapest provider: the customers comments weren’t that good. 5000 euros difference seems to me a bit too much anyway.

The guy of the 10000 offer was really professional and provided me many details on the equipment and the laws. Unfortunately you cannot just choose a provider and do the installation.

I live in a co-property: I own one house, but it is inside a big complex. I need to ask a permission to the administrator to make any changes to the house exterior. When I asked the administrator, they replied that I had to present a project and have it voted to the owners assembly. I asked this in April, and the assembly has been just held this November 17! Seven months delay!

Here in France you have the right to install a plug in the co-property if you need to recharge an electric car, just presenting some documentation. The same for a TV antenna, but if you want to produce your own energy you can’t.
Many speaks of energy transition, climate change, but when you want to act, you realize that it is all so complicated.

Also the incentives the country provide are not that good. For a 3kw installation you will get 1000 euro only, payed in 5 years! If you buy an electric car you get 6000 euro now! Your VAT is reduced to 10% but only if your installation is not above 3kw. If you want to produce more, you pay 20% VAT. Isn’t this a mistake? The more solar energy, the more autonomy from foreign countries.
Also you can sell 1 kw of solar energy to the electric grid, but you will get 0.10 euros. If you look at your bill, you will see the price is about 0.16… and this was before the war beginning.

So a lot of time passed, but I will tell what happened in the owner assembly next time – and then you will understand why I have put the word “ugly” in the title