According to an official at engineering services company COPEXTEL, Cuba markets imported solar panels without backup batteries to private or government customers.
The 45 photovoltaic systems installed in the Cuban capital, 30 of them in the living areaThey are designed to feed energy into the grid and work without backup batteries, so they only work when there is sun, a Cuban TV report by official journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso pointed out this Saturday.
The report also notes that another disadvantage of these solar energy systems, which the above company sells for 55,000 Cuban pesos every 1 kwp (four panels) means they will disconnect during power outages and not supply power to the National Electric System grid.
However, for an Electric Union official in Havana interviewed in the above report, this modality has the added benefit of giving the customer sovereignty over electrical service, at least for the day.
For his part, the COPEXTEL official assured in his statements that these systems were designed to be fed into the network.
Also, he clarified that they are not isolated systems or hybrid systems and that they “manage the idea of going out with new intentions”.
“We have already worked with the isolated system in houses in the mountains and we would have to finance a system that covers all the other systems, with autonomy with battery banks that are much more expensive, but we want to offer all these devices.” , explains further.
One family interviewed commented that they chose to install this system because they are heavy consumers and wanted to compensate by generating electricity that matches their consumption and at a convenient price.
However, they said, the practice does not bring them the expected benefits, as they continue to pay more than 2,000 pesos a month for electricity despite generating more electricity with these panels than they consume.
Another factor against them is the price of the excess energy they feed into the SEN grid, which is only three Cuban pesos per kilowatt-hour, and when there are power outages during the day, the panels shut down and provide no power.
This family decided to install eight photovoltaic kW (nearly half a million pesos) made in China and brought to the island by an import company, which took five months from payment to withdrawal from the port.
This modality in the residential sector of Havana was authorized in 2021 and the people who have been able to acquire it are an insignificant number.
To date, 45 solar panels from private and government customers are in operation in the Cuban capital, 30 of them in private households, as Leisy Hernández, commercial director of the Havana Electric Company, recently reported.
According to the directive, this modality applies to customers who, after importing or buying the solar panel in a COPEXTEL store, decide to install it on their property to consume the energy produced.
in November 2021, The Cuban company Copextel started selling photovoltaic solar systems to the population of the capital for the first time on the islandincluding components, transport, installation and assembly.
This modality only applies in the island’s capital, as explained that day by Rolando Gómez Rondón, General Manager of the ECOSOL Energy Division.
“At this stage they will only be marketed in Havana, where the buyer must reside to ensure the technical visit with the service that includes installation and transport. This is one way to protect the customer. It is expected to expand the service to the rest of the country in the coming months,” he announced.
The manager also explained that these systems use solar panels and inverters that convert available solar energy into electrical energy for household, business and industrial consumption, thereby saving electricity.
“They allow users to co-generate electricity or feed-in energy in parallel, either for self-consumption or for sending to the national electricity system,” he stressed.
To apply for the installation of these systems, an area on the roof of the house or an available floor of 12.5 meters is required.
If it is a roof, it must be made of concrete (slab), and if it is a floor, it must be paved (cemented or asphalted) and exposed to the sun all year round. It must be horizontal or such that the photovoltaic system can be leveled.
In August 2021, the Cuban government asked citizens to do so invest in solar energy development with freely convertible currency (MLC). run by the Electric Union.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Liván Arronte Cruz, reported on the creation of a bank account with MLC in order to “offer the possibility for natural and legal persons to obtain a certain photovoltaic power in kW”, after which it would be reduced monthly the equivalent of energy, generated by the electricity purchased by that person.
Cuba has one 40 percent delay in the implementation of renewable energy sourcesAlthough there is plenty of solar radiation on the island to power photovoltaic panels, there are wind currents in many places to generate electricity from wind turbines and there is enough biomass to power bioelectric plants.
Also in July 2021 allows the duty-free import of photovoltaic systems, their parts and pieces by natural persons in customs, a measure aimed at increasing the participation of renewable energy sources in the country’s power generation matrix.
Solar energy could be an alternative to the desperate power outages that have plagued the island in recent months due to the poor state of thermoelectric plants and fuel shortages, but it is a prohibitive technology for the pockets of the majority of Cuba’s population.