Spain's crisis-hit solar energy sector is pinning its hopes on the increase in small-scale electricity production which, its representatives believe, could radically transform the world's energy landscape. Steps are already being taken towards a model in which rooftop solar panels and other small renewable energy installations would allow consumers to generate their own power.
That could eventually spell the decline of nuclear and other traditional power plants. A reform in the pipeline in Spain would enable companies or individuals producing their own electricity to store excess amounts in the electrical grid, thus encouraging small-scale production.
Currently, a Spaniard who activates her or his home appliances with solar panels, for instance, loses the energy that is generated by the sun while she or he is out of the house, unless she or he can afford expensive batteries to store it. The reform that is being planned would allow such producers to inject the excess energy into the electrical grid, and to later retrieve a corresponding amount of energy from the grid.
The system - known as net metering - would help to decentralise energy production and favour green energy, Guerrero said. It would also cut energy costs by eliminating transmission expenses, taxes, as well as subsidies - the cost of which is passed on to the consumer, he argues.
However, such a system is frowned upon by utility companies, which would sell less electricity to consumers. Eventually, their role could even be reduced to merely maintaining the grid. If the reform goes ahead, it is expected to boost the renewable energy sector, which has been hit hard by the country's economic crisis. Spain is known as one of the global leaders in "green" energy, with Spanish companies exporting wind and solar energy around the world.
Even today, despite the crisis, the sector still employs more than 100,000 people, and produced 35 per cent of Spain's electricity in 2011. But the government's subsidy cuts and planned new taxes are posing a serious threat to the sector, dozens of renewable energy associations complained in a recent press release.
In the sector of photovoltaic solar energy - a system using panels to convert radiation into electricity - direct employment has plunged from 60,000 jobs in 2008 to 10,000 jobs this year, according to Diaz, a spokesman for the photovoltaic companies' federation UNEF.
Spanish renewable energy companies are getting an increasing share of their income from abroad - from China, India, the United States, South Africa, Chile, Brazil and other European nations. "Spain is training thousands of solar energy professionals who have no chances of finding jobs," Guerrero said.
At the same time, however, some restaurants, refrigerated warehouses and other companies have begun generating their own power with solar panels. Some individual houses also do so. The model could be extended to industrial areas and entire neighbourhoods, according to Guerrero.
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