Spain’s sunshine toll: Row over proposed solar tax [View all]

[muriel_volestrangler]

They would pay a backup toll for the power from their solar panels, in addition to the access toll paid by everyone who consumes electricity from the conventional grid.

Although the tolls vary, if you pay an access toll of 0.053 euros per kWh, you could face a backup toll of 0.068 euros per kWh.

The new tax would extend the average time it would take for solar panels to pay for themselves from eight to 25 years, according to the solar lobby.

The government says that with increasing "self-consumption", the income for conventional energy systems will decrease, but grid maintenance will cost the same.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24272061

This seems a quick way to sabotage solar power in a country ideally suited to it. I can see limiting a feed-in tariff - while that may have needed to be generous at first to encourage installation, the falling cost of panels may have meant it's not needed now. But this just looks like a way of discouraging solar.