To lower their energy bills, more and more households and companies in Lithuania are installing solar panels on their roofs, making use of the government’s subsidies.
Solar panels are most often found on the roofs of private houses, various institutions and office buildings, or in solar farms outside the city. But a solar power plant on the roof of a residential block of flats? While it may seem a very practical idea, as most people live in flats, making it happen is a challenge.
Justas Makrickas said it took a lot of effort, because installing solar modules required the approval of the neighbours, or at least half of them. And in a building with 199 flats, consulting everyone is no small feat.
“If I succeeded, I think everyone can do it. I did a lot of things myself that might not have been necessary – coordinating with the architect, the structural engineer on the roof loads, whether the roof would hold up or not. Everywhere I called, I was often the first to ask those questions,” says Makrickas.
He is the first person in Lithuania to install solar panels on a residential building of this size and to convince so many neighbours. He says he may even be the first in the world.
He is now sharing his experience on Facebook with others who are pondering solar power as a solution to high electricity bills.
“I realised that I would be the one to solve the problem of rising electricity prices even before they went up. I didn’t know they were going to go up that much,” says Makrickas. “I don’t pay for electricity at all, because I produce enough.”
Solitek, a Lithuania-based company that is one of the biggest solar panel manufacturer in Northern Europe, has been working around the clock since last summer, and although most of its products are exported, it is now seeing increased demand in Lithuania.
The company says that sometimes it is struggling to fill all the orders.
Solar panels are in high demand also because of subsidies offered by the government.
“There is really no problem in installing modules on our own roofs quickly. We need to use these measures because it is a direct saving, a direct investment,” says Vidmantas Janulevicius, president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists.
He adds that the government could cut some of the red tape in order to speed up the process even more.
“The quicker we invest, the more we will reduce our costs, the more we will generate in Lithuania and the lower the price will be for all other consumers,” he believes.
The Energy Ministry says interest in solar power plants has doubled this year, so the government has earmarked over 600 million euros in subsidies for 2022-2023. Moreover, businesses can apply for soft loans to buy solar power plants, even those facing financial challenges.
“In total, this will amount to over 1 billion euros until 2030, focusing on a number of areas – solar and wind farms for the Producing Consumers Scheme, and also encouraging small and medium-sized businesses and farmers to buy solar and wind farms and to use renewable energy sources. This will be the main focus of the subsidy package,” says Deputy Energy Minister Daiva Garbaliauskaite.
Soon, around 50,000 households will have installed solar power plants, she says. Most of them have been private house owners, but more and more people who live in flats are interested in investing in solar parks outside cities. (LRT/Business World Magazine)