Self-consumption

Self-Consumption: Generate and Use Your Own Clean Energy

What is photovoltaic self-consumption?

Self-consumption means generating your own clean energy using photovoltaic panels installed at homes, businesses, municipal buildings, or even at an industrial scale.

Benefits of Self-Consumption

Through a renewable energy installation, particularly solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass, or small hydro, consumers can generate and use their own electricity.

• Consumer solidarity: contributes to reducing electricity prices and energy bills for all consumers.
• Environmental solidarity: avoids the use of polluting energy sources and greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to improved air quality.
• National solidarity: reduces fossil fuel imports and energy dependence, balancing the trade deficit and improving energy sovereignty.
• Development and innovation: self-consumption promotes technological development and innovation.
• Citizen rights: it is a key tool for exercising the citizen’s right to actively participate in the energy transition. The more people get involved in the energy transition, the greater its public acceptance and the lower its cost.
• Supports system maintenance: self-consumers pay the costs of the electricity system in exchange for the right to use it (fixed term in full and variable term depending on the energy drawn from the grid).
• Generates competition and flexibility in the electricity system: can also result in a reduction of final energy prices.
• Economic benefits: its development generates direct, qualified, local employment and contributes to strengthening business competitiveness.
• Benefits for the electricity system: avoids system losses between electricity generation and consumption points, and reduces the need for new transmission and distribution networks.
• Consumer empowerment tool: active demand management will be essential in the future to improve electricity system performance and promote energy efficiency.
• Fights energy poverty: especially in shared self-consumption models, it contributes to reducing energy poverty among vulnerable social groups.
• No additional costs: renewable energy installations are directly profitable through electricity bill savings, without requiring any subsidies.

What regulations govern self-consumption?

Royal Decree 244/2019 of April 5, which regulates the administrative, technical, and economic conditions of electricity self-consumption, is the current legislation governing self-consumption.

However, in October 2024, a prior public consultation was published regarding a draft Royal Decree regulating the administrative, technical, and economic conditions of electricity self-consumption, with the aim of updating the existing legislation. The process is scheduled to continue in October 2025 with the publication of the first draft of the new text for public review and consultation, which will modify certain aspects related to electricity self-consumption and promote distributed energy storage.

Regulatory Support Documents

The Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) has produced several documents to promote the development of self-consumption and to simplify the process of installing a self-consumption system. The guides are as follows:

Professional Guide to Self-Consumption Processing

Collective Self-Consumption Guide

What does UNEF do in self-consumption?

UNEF approaches self-consumption from all perspectives, collaborating with various sector stakeholders and our members in different working groups.

Installed Self-Consumption Capacity Data

UNEF estimates the installed capacity in Spain on a quarterly and annual basis. The most up-to-date data include:

Installed and cumulative capacity (logarithmic scale) of self-consumption per year (source: UNEF own elaboration).

Installed capacity of self-consumption per year (source: UNEF own elaboration).  

Considering installation types:

• Industrial: if the installation’s capacity exceeds 50 kW.
• Commercial: if the installation’s capacity is between 10 kW and 50 kW.
• Residential: if the installation’s capacity is below 10 kW.
• Off-grid: if the self-consumption installation is not connected to the grid.

Self-Consumption Regulation

We propose measures affecting self-consumption regulation to promote greater deployment in Spain and reach the 19 GW of installed self-consumption capacity included in the PNIEC.

The following document details the 10 main proposals defended by UNEF, which have also been included in the prior public consultation mentioned above:

Self-Consumption Decalogue 2025

Additionally, you can download our detailed proposals here: UNEF Proposals for Self-Consumption Regulation 2025

Self-Consumption Installation Processing

Over the past year, UNEF has held sessions with Spain’s main distributors regarding self-consumption processing, explaining the procedure through each of their platforms.

A dedicated account is also available for members to report problems or obstacles encountered during the self-consumption installation process.

Quality and Safety of Installations

Another UNEF priority is ensuring the quality and safety of self-consumption installations. To achieve this, small working groups are creating materials and initiatives in collaboration with the National Institute for Safety and Health (INSST).

One of the documents produced is the Good Practice Guide for Fire Safety in Rooftop Photovoltaic Self-Consumption Installations.

We also offer the Quality Seal for self-consumption installation companies that are committed to professional training and high-quality installations.

*Small working groups consist of a limited number of UNEF members actively working on a specific topic.

Initiatives in Which We Participate

Self-Consumption Alliance

UNEF is a member of the Self-Consumption Alliance, a platform established in April 2017, composed of social, ecological, business, union, and consumer organizations. The Alliance promotes self-consumption and carries out initiatives supporting this clean form of energy consumption.

Alliance for Safety and Sustainability in Building (S2E)

UNEF is also part of the S2E Alliance, a platform that brings together various industries in the construction sector to promote responsible and effective practices for rooftop installations, among other initiatives, fostering training and knowledge transfer.

Other Materials

Monthly Self-Consumption and Energy Communities Bulletin

Every month, UNEF sends members the Monthly Self-Consumption and Energy Communities Bulletin, which includes available subsidies and support for self-consumption and energy communities, as well as useful information for legalizing self-consumption installations. This includes updates on exemption procedures, building permits in different Autonomous Communities, links to different administrative self-consumption registers, and installed capacity data to date.

Webinars

UNEF provides members with opportunities to learn about topics of interest through webinars.
This year, sessions covered topics such as tax deductions for energy efficiency improvements and balcony solar systems.

Self-Consumption Summit

UNEF hosts an annual Self-Consumption Summit, a space dedicated to current topics. The summit gathers representatives from different institutions and industry experts.