Solar remains key to managing rising energy bills

Cypriot homeowners are facing a harsh reality: energy costs are as high as they have ever been on the island. Spurred by emissions fines from the European Union, unit prices now comfortably exceed 30 euro cents per kWh, making the summer season - when ACs are often running, a very expensive period.

This issue has been present for years and does not appear to be close to a solution. The Vasiliko gas terminal, which would see the island switch over to natural gas at the main power plant, is incomplete, with the construction stuck in a legal battle between the State and the Chinese company contracted for the work. Equally,

‘EuroAsia’, the massive undersea cable project proposed to link the grids of Israel, Greece and Cyprus has been caught up in delays, with the Cypriot entity responsible for the project recently being dissolved, with work transferred over to a Greek company. 

So what are consumers to do? One popular option is to install solar. 

Cyprus is the sunniest country in Europe. This isn’t just tourism-speak - nowhere on the continent receives more solar irradiance per square meter annually than Cyprus. 

Because of this great sun, as well as relatively low installation costs, Cypriot solar owners can benefit from outstandingly low levelized costs of electricity. This is a metric that takes all the costs associated with installing solar, as well as all the electricity it’ll produce, and condenses it into a number which roughly represents how much it will cost to produce each unit. 

In Cyprus, this can be as low as 8 cents per kWh. This means massive savings against grid electricity. 

Making it even more lucrative, Cyprus is still engaged in net-metering - a system whereby any energy fed back into the grid is valued the same as energy consumed from it. This (basically) means that there is no real incentive to install a battery, because the energy system provides an accounting-level battery. Your energy isn’t physically stored, but it is as far as your bill is concerned. 

The allowance for these credits to roll over multiple months even means that excess energy produced at the tail end of summer can be used to power your electric heating three months later at Christmas. It is not a policy that is conducive to a sustainable, flexible energy system, and the government is aware of this (in most other European countries, such accounting methodologies have already been phased out), but for now, absent the metering infrastructure necessary to properly bill, it remains in place.

Net metering is a system that further enhances the benefits of solar power for homeowners. It allows residential solar panel owners to feed excess electricity back into the grid. This excess energy generates credits that can be used to offset electricity consumption during periods when solar generation is low, such as nighttime or cloudy days. Essentially, net metering turns your home into a mini power plant, reducing overall energy costs and providing a buffer against price volatility in the traditional energy market.

Needless to say, with absurd payback periods as low as two years (on panels with 20-year warranties), solar has been spreading like wildfire on rooftops in Cyprus. Residential photovoltaic system capacity is growing by 20% annually. In 2023 alone, over 10,000 households installed solar panels, generating a combined 100 MW of clean electricity.

At IMKA, every available rooftop on our developments is utilized for panels. We know that energy costs are a critical factor in the everyday lives of Limassol residents - especially with more and more 40°C+ days making generous AC usage a borderline necessity. With solar panels, you can leverage the power of the sun to obtain cheaper, cleaner energy for you and your family.