According to our information, if small photovoltaic producers (prosumers) hope for compensation because their panels fail, they will have to wait for a next government. The current Walloon PS-MR-Ecolo majority was supposed to vote on the text in third reading in the government this Thursday, this will not be the case. Neither the MR nor the PS agree with the text proposed by the Green Minister of Energy, Philippe Henry. The text should have already passed last Thursday, with subsequent communication, it had been postponed.
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Hard blow
For prosumers, this is a big blow, but it’s not really a surprise. Beprosumer, the non-profit organization defending prosumers, had already said all the bad things it thought about the formula that was on the table. As a reminder, in the Walloon government’s text, annual compensation of 44 euros per installed kVA (kilovolt-ampere) was provided. For an average 5kVA installation, this meant 220 euros. Provided, however, that you have a break of two hours in a row. Which would automatically exclude the vast majority of prosumers.
At Beprosumer, we have always insisted on the fact that we are not necessarily asking for compensation. What we want is for the network to work and for the photovoltaic panels to produce. Compensation is only a stopgap measure. The non-profit organization also advocates for proportional compensation. “This must be a priority issue for the next government,” insists Régis François, president of Beprosumer. “We need a lasting solution, otherwise the DNOs (distribution network managers, editor’s note) will receive a barrage of recourse, including in court. »
Dropouts despite the gray weather
Under current conditions, there will therefore be no compensation for inverter dropouts. Remember that the inverter is the device that transforms the direct current from the panels into alternating current injected into the network. If the voltage is too high on the network (in the event of large production, which the network cannot absorb), the inverter stalls, that is to say it breaks down. Panel production stops, a heavy loss for prosumers. However, despite the gloomy weather we are experiencing, the panels are still producing and we have recorded numerous dropouts. If good weather returns, it could well be apocalyptic for prosumers…
An interactive map to help photovoltaic panel owners: here’s how to check if your neighborhood is prone to inverter outages
At Beprosumer, we also emphasize that we are a few days away from the elections. If we take into account that there are 360,000 Walloon houses with panels on their roofs, that probably means 720,000 voters potentially affected by the problem of dropout.
Solutions to avoid selling off your electricity
The first advice to give is to self-consume as much as possible and, for those who do not benefit from the meter which runs backwards, to optimize this self-consumption with batteries.
Self-consumption can also be done with equipment such as a thermodynamic water heater or a simple electric boiler. The idea here is to heat the water during the day and then turn off the device after 5 p.m., for example. You also need to remember to schedule dishes, laundry, and the dryer during expected production hours. All this is not incompatible with a battery, which can act as a buffer and help you optimize self-consumption.
Citizen communities
We can still talk about energy communities, it’s worth finding out. The system is only in its infancy, but the idea here is to share your excess energy and resell it, via a platform, at prices that are much more attractive than those we have detailed above. This type of citizen community can also help the network (and prosumers) by acting on connected devices that can be triggered in the event of a strong influx of electricity.
As Olivier Desclée of Engie says, “flexibility is how to match production and consumption”. This is indeed one of the major challenges of the years to come.
