Allocation of solar cell grants from The Energy Centre

14 October 2024

As things stand today it is by no means feasible to produce electricity in Iceland with solar cells if it is to be fed directly into the electricity grid. If, on the other hand, users install cells to reduce their own consumption, the benefit can be said to triple, as the user saves on the purchase of electricity, transport and taxes.   
 
This summer, The Energy Centre advertised a competitive grant for solar cells that anyone could apply for, regardless of their legal place of residency or occupation. The grant’s maximum pay out never amounts to more than 50% of the material costs, and is paid out afterwards, based on the invoices submitted by the applicant.   

This project is part of HYBES - Hybrid energy solutions for buildings and infrastructure.

HYBES is an international development and research project exploring hybrid energy systems integrating renewable energy sources and energy storage technologies to provide sustainable energy solutions for Arctic communities.

The grant was allocated on a competitive basis, and the selection of applications was based on the allocation rules that accompanied the advertisement. The competition was very tough and The Energy Centre received 90 applications, which was far more than what they had budgeted for this project.  
 
It was proposed that The Energy Centre's grants would be mainly directed to where the interests of users and the state are the greatest. The order of priority for projects was this: Off-grid  properties, users on rural rates and users in electrically heated areas.   
 
Due to the high number of applications, all the projects that were top priority received funding, but there were no funds to support other projects. The projects that received funding were therefore either Off-grid or where electricity production is carried out with diesel generators, or both. In these locations, the solar cells reduce oil consumption and thereby the emission of greenhouse gases, which is in line with the government's energy policy and commitment.

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