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Self-consumption consists of using the radiation that comes from the sun to generate electricity, which can be used for any purpose, i.e. the fact of producing our own energy is known as self-consumption. Any equipment or installation that consumes electricity can be supplied by a self-consumption installation.

We can make two classifications of the types of self-consumption ‘Individual self-consumption’ or ‘Collective self-consumption’ and on the other hand ‘Self-consumption with surplus’ or ‘Self-consumption without surplus’. Whenever we talk about self-consumption, we are referring to installations in which there will also be an electricity supply that has been activated and whose purpose is to complement the energy supply provided by the solar installation, at times when the installation produces little due to a drop in radiation, at night or simply when the entire energy demand cannot be covered by the solar installation.

We speak of individual self-consumption when the installation is used to supply energy to a single consumer or, in other words, when there is only one supply point registered and associated with that installation. When there are several consumers or several supply points linked to a self-consumption installation, then we are talking about ‘collective self-consumption’. For example, a community of owners, or a housing development in which there are several registered supplies and which decide to share a solar installation in order to share the energy it generates among all of them, will be considered as a collective self-consumption installation. 

A self-consumption installation is said to have a surplus when the consumer is not able to take advantage of all the energy generated by the installation and therefore has a surplus, i.e. it will have an excess of production. It is possible that the installation does not have a surplus, this will occur in two possible situations, on the one hand when the consumer is able to consume all the energy generated by the installation, either because it is very well dimensioned and its consumption pattern fits closely to the production curve or because it has a very high consumption and the installation can only provide a small % of the energy needed due to limited space to place panels. 

The energy that is fed into the grid can be managed in two ways: it can be compensated in the supply bill (simplified compensation) or an energy sales contract can be made, for which it will be necessary to register as a producer and the energy will be charged at the price determined each month by the energy pool. Another possibility for managing surpluses is to store surplus energy in batteries so that it is available when it is needed. 

A self-consumer may benefit from the compensation of surpluses when the production installation is less than or equal to 100 kW, in the event that the power is greater than 100 kW the energy will be sold on the market by means of a market representation contract made with the marketer. 

In the bill, a valuation of the surpluses will be made at a previously stipulated price, which in the case of Fenie Energía is 0.049 €/kWh. The compensation consists of valuing the surpluses at this price and then subtracting it from the bill. The consumer will continue to pay the fixed part of the bill, i.e. the power term and taxes, and at most the amount corresponding to the variable part of the bill, i.e. the amount of the kWh consumed, can be compensated. This part can never be negative, so the maximum amount to be compensated will be the amount that makes this amount zero. This is compensation in economic rather than energy terms. 

A self-consumption installation consists of several elements:

1. Firstly, there is the generator field, which consists mainly of photovoltaic panels. In addition to these, there may be complementary elements to increase efficiency and generating capacity, such as small wind turbines. The energy produced by these devices is direct current.
2. Secondly, we have the electronic part, whose objective is to convert the energy generated by the panels in direct current to alternating current so that it can be consumed in the consumer's usual network and also allows us to visualise the energy generated and consumed through a web portal that receives the data from the installation.
3. And thirdly, the structure, mainly made up of metal parts to which the solar panels are attached by means of screws and fasteners.

As in any electrical installation there will be wiring and protections for the electrical lines.

The price of a self-consumption installation can vary depending on different factors, for example, the type of structure used, the quality of the components such as the panels and the solar inverter. The important thing about a self-consumption installation is not to evaluate the price, but to carry out an adequate and personalised study taking into account the consumer's needs and allowing him to make the most of the energy generated and to maximise the percentage of savings achieved.

The surface area occupied by the installation will vary depending on the size of the installation. To give you an idea, a 1 kWn installation would consist of 2-4 panels depending on their power, so for each kW we would occupy a surface area of between 4 and 6.5 m2.

In order to carry out a self-consumption installation, it is necessary to carry out some procedures to legalise it and register it with the different bodies. Depending on different factors, the procedure changes somewhat.

A) Installations that do not have surpluses, i.e. do not have surplus energy to feed into the grid, will be processed through a simple procedure.

1. To begin with, we will carry out the procedures indicated by the municipal regulations (building permits, prior notification, etc...). Once the Town Hall indicates that the procedure is correct, installation can begin.
2. After the installation has been carried out, the installer will need to present a document to the territorial delegation of Industry in which the technical aspects of the solar installation will be reflected, that is to say, he will issue an Electrical Installation Certificate.
3. From this point onwards, the Administration will be responsible for sending the information to the Register of Production Facilities and to the Distributor.
4. The customer must notify his supplier that he has contracted a self-consumption installation.

B) Installations with surpluses may choose between two modalities, either requesting compensation for surpluses in the bill or entering into an energy sale contract to receive an economic consideration for it. Only in the case of an installation of more than 15 kW for this type of self-consumption, the procedure will change with respect to that explained in the previous case.

1. Permission will need to be sought from the Distribution Company to inform them of how the installation will be connected and whether any additional reinforcement work needs to be carried out on the network.
2. Only when the installation has more than 25 kW it will have to pass an inspection by an inspection body.
3. In addition, the consumer must inform the Reseller if he wants to take advantage of the surplus compensation or if he prefers to sell the energy to the market and enter into the contract indicated by the Reseller.
   

ALWAYS, but it is necessary to carry out a study of the real needs of the consumer so that the installation is correctly dimensioned and the use of the energy generated is the maximum possible. This will allow the savings to be as high as possible. The savings will vary depending on several factors such as, for example, the consumption pattern of the client, centralising the greatest possible amount of energy consumed by the photovoltaic at the times when the installation produces the most is a guarantee of a great use of the solar installation and therefore guarantees a high percentage of savings.

When talking about self-consumption, the only thing that comes to mind is to talk about the advantages, in terms of the environment, with solar generation it is possible to avoid the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. It is very common to talk about tons of CO2 not emitted but making a reliable balance is complicated as it depends on the energy source that is being replaced, in general terms we can talk about 0.38 kg of CO2 for each KWh generated with renewable sources. On the economic side, a distinction should be made between the type of consumer who decides to self-consume the energy generated by their solar installation. If we refer to a domestic consumer, the economic impact on their bill is important, we can talk about values of around 20% savings on the bill, in other types of consumers it is important not only to value the monetary savings, it is also important to value the social impact that being a self-consumer can have, at a business level, it is not only important to value the savings obtained on the bill, it is important to value the impact of the company having an innovative image at a technological level or being able to manage the production of its products with renewable energy sources. We can talk about savings of up to 50% in energy consumption which allows you to gain competitiveness by reducing production costs.