Navarra has created an interactive tool that allows knowing the solar potential, both for photovoltaic and thermal energy, that a roof has if solar panels are installed on it. It is enough to indicate an address in the search engine and the heat map is displayed. The project has been promoted by the regional government -at the initiative of a parliamentary amendment by EH Bildu-, the public company Nasuvinsa-Lursarea, the Public University of Navarra (UPNA) and the Supercomputing Center of the public entity Nasertic. It is one of the measures designed to promote self-consumption in a community that has 6,256 facilities of this type, of which 75% are solar energy.
The general director of Industry, Energy and Strategic Projects S4, Uxue Itoiz, details that, while in 2020 Navarra had 31 megawatts (MW) of installed power, currently the figure rises to 108, enough to supply some 43,000 homes. That is to say, in two years the Foral Community has tripled the production capacity. The goal is much more ambitious: to reach 1,000 MW in 2027. “Growth is so extremely exponential that, seeing the demands, we believe we can get there,” says Itoiz. Another of the objectives that are set is the creation of energy communities throughout the territory. In fact, it is expected that in a few months one will start operating in Lekunberri, in which 17 companies will participate, with a planned investment of four million euros and an estimated production of 3.7 MW per year.
Itoiz points out that the solar map is a very useful tool for checking the possibilities of creating an energy community. It can happen, he gives as an example, that the roof of a residential building has a small area and is insufficient to supply all the residents, but that the building opposite has a huge roof and little consumption. This is the case, for example, of the institute and health center in the Iturrama neighborhood of Pamplona. During the summer, when the school is closed, the energy produced by the installation of its roof supplies the toilet. The conditions for establishing energy communities are various. Among them, the obligation to “constitute itself legally -as an association or cooperative, for example-, establish consumption distributions, carry out a participatory process and establish the freedom to enter and leave the community whenever you want” stands out.
To carry out the facilities, the Navarrese Executive subsidizes up to 65% of the costs, thanks to European funds. However, the initial barrage of applications exhausted the first aid bag -more funds arrived at the end of 2022-, thus creating a significant bottleneck that has meant that even today there are people who have not received the money. However, the situation has returned to normal, Itoiz asserts: “At the moment we have funds and we anticipate being able to expand them.” Tax deductions are added to the subsidies, which, Itoiz details, can be as high as 30%. Along with the solar map, a guide has been included that summarizes the steps that must be followed to install the solar panels and request aid for self-consumption and storage. In addition, in recent years the regulations governing facilities have been streamlined.
The person in charge of the Nasuvinsa-Lursarea Territorial Observatory of Navarra, Xabier Velasco, is behind the solar map project. The operation is simple: the desired address is included in the search engine, the roof is selected and data is obtained such as the useful installation area, as well as other energy indicators such as estimated annual production, savings in greenhouse gas emissions greenhouse, the average cost of the investment and its annual maintenance and the estimate of economic savings on the electricity or gas bill. The tool provides a differentiated calculation between the installation of photovoltaic panels -to produce electricity- and thermal panels -to heat the water-.
Supercomputing to process the data
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To obtain these data, Velasco points out, a significant deployment of resources has been made. Applying the methodology designed by the Public University of Navarra, the data from more than nine million sensors on the roofs of the buildings were analyzed: “In each roof, points have been generated every two meters and in each of them a the visible horizon of the path of the sun. It has been calculated where there are obstructions and then, with meteorological data, the total annual irradiance at that point has been estimated”. In short, they have calculated how many hours of sun a sensor located in one place and with a certain orientation receives per year. The huge amount of data obtained has made the intervention of the Nasertic Supercomputing Center necessary. “We have processed 20 blocks, 20 points, in parallel. It has been like having 20 computers on the network processing the data at the same time”, explains Velasco.
The powers obtained are in a range between 155 and 333 kilowatts/hour per square meter. In the northern part of Navarra, the roofs appear more yellowish on the map (less power), while in the south, where the degree of insolation is higher, the roofs are orange or red. In any case, Itoiz underlines, “even if the roof is yellow, you always have solar potential”.
All this has been reflected in the interactive tool in which, in addition, the limitations of the land and current regulations have been introduced, which prevent the installation of solar panels on Assets of Cultural Interest (BIC). This circumstance and the continuous construction and destruction of real estate make it necessary to update the map periodically.
For now, no institution outside of Navarra has contacted the participating entities to inquire about the tool. If they do so, Velasco assures, they could apply it in their territories without problems: “It can be replicated in any region, as long as they have climate data, the digital elevation model, information on buildings and assets of cultural interest (BIC).”
Looking to the future, Navarra is working on other initiatives such as covering children’s playgrounds or car parks with solar panel pergolas. In addition, the Provincial Executive is in full process of a pioneering project at the international level: the coverage with photovoltaic panels of the Canal de Navarra, a hydraulic work that has not yet been completed and that carries water from the Irati river to the central and southern areas. of the community. “With this pilot project, energy will be supplied to half of the facilities of the Government of Navarra”, Velasco details. The premise continues to be maximizing humanized spaces to reduce environmental impact.
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