Solar power in Spain

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Spanish government drastically cut its subsidies for solar power and capped future increases in capacity at 500 MW per year, with effects upon the industry worldwide.

The controversial "sun tax" and intimidating regulation surrounding solar self consumption introduced in 2015 were only begun to be repealed in late 2018 by the new government.

In 2017 Spain held large auctions for renewable energy capacity to be constructed by 2020: PV and wind projects each won 4 GW.

Through a ministerial ruling in March 2004, the Spanish government removed economic barriers to the connection of renewable energy technologies to the electricity grid.

The Royal Decree 436/2004 equalised conditions for large-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic plants and guaranteed feed-in tariffs.

[22] Renewable energy auctions held in the previous year have yet to show much impact on grid connected capacity but expected to make a considerable change during 2019.

Spain is poised to become a major contributor to Europe's renewable energy landscape, supported by its robust solar potential and favorable market conditions.

To address this challenge, the government introduced new regulations in March 2023, streamlining permitting for projects below 150 MW capacity and with low or medium environmental impact.

[24] In March 2007, Europe's first commercial concentrating solar power tower plant was opened near the sunny Andalusian city of Seville.

The Andasol 1 power plant went online in November 2008, and has a thermal storage system which absorbs part of the heat produced in the solar field during the day.

[27] A 15 MWe solar-only power tower plant, the Solar Tres project, is in the hands of the Spanish company SENER, employing molten salt technologies for receiving and energy storage.

[13] Solar thermal power plants designed for solar-only generation are well matched to summer noon peak loads in prosperous areas with significant cooling demands, such as Spain.

The new facility is located adjacent to one with half its capacity, called PS10, which was the world's first commercial solar power tower plant.

This is typically the situation in European countries which had a short-term generous feed in their tariff system with little attention to policy consistency and scale of installations.

As of 2018, 19% of Europe's cumulative PV capacity was installed on residential rooftops, and about 30% on commercial roofs, while the industrial segment accounted for 17%, and the utility market for 34%.

[32] At the time of opening, the General Motors facility at Figueruelas was the world's largest photovoltaic (PV) roof, consisting of 85,000 lightweight panels, thereby reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by 6,700 tonnes per year.

It applies to new constructions as well as any modifications made on any existing building with the final goal to guarantee and promote the use of renewable sources of energy.

[44] Concerning thermosolar energy, Spain was the first country in Europe to enforce the integration of solar thermal systems in new constructed or refurnished buildings to cover from 30 to 70% of the Domestic Hot Water (DHW) demand.

[46] This policy triggered the production of this type of renewable energy positioning Spain on top of the largest producers of photovoltaic electricity in the world by 2009.

[47] In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Spanish government drastically cut its subsidies for solar power and capped future increases in capacity at 500 MW per year, with effects upon the industry worldwide.

[8] In 2010, the Spanish government went further, retroactively cutting subsidies for existing solar projects, aiming to save several billion euro it owed.