France: citizens invest in solar energy
Photovoltaic solar panels.
(Illustrative image) www.hellowatt.fr
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Autumn is approaching in Europe and with it particularly high energy bills due to the war in Ukraine.
In France, individuals are protected from rising prices by an “energy shield” put in place by the government.
But the executive is considering the future of this device.
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Some individuals are looking for alternatives to the simple supply of energy by large national companies.
Thus, in the south of France, a collective of citizens bought land to install solar panels.
Four years ago, this handful of villagers invested their savings in the creation of a self-managed park of 700 photovoltaic panels.
“
We recovered 175,000 euros from citizens
”
Christian Mercier is the president of the collective: "
We recovered 175,000 euros from citizens and the region helped us up to 100,000 euros for the operation as part of this call for projects
".
The goal: to sell the electricity produced to a green energy network.
"
The objective is to have an energy production with photovoltaics which is much cheaper than the production that EDF sells to us or all the traditional energy suppliers
", explains Christian Mercier.
With the key to significant savings per kilowatt, he underlines: "
The cost of this energy coming out of the photovoltaic panel is around 8 to 10 cents for individuals whereas, when you buy it, you are today at least around 20 cents.
And I would say that we have to take into consideration that we are going to go towards 40 cents.
What we are trying to minimize is roughly a 30 to 40% reduction in the electricity bill
”.
Supply of 170 households
For four years, this photovoltaic park has produced enough electricity to supply 170 homes, heating not included, however.
►Also read
: United Kingdom: "Don't Pay", the campaign that protests against energy prices
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