Flemish company offers solar power to everyone
Gloww offers free solar panels to residents, who are charged for the electricity they use, with excess power going back into the grid and reducing the homeowner’s bill
Clean source of power
Solar energy is often seen as an energy source for the well-off. The level of investment required to buy and install solar panels simply forced out most homeowners, even those with a desire to go green.
Now, however, things are changing, and concepts like Gloww are making solar energy a more financially viable option for green homeowners around the world. The idea was first seen in the US, used by energy companies such as the Arkansas-based SunCity. It was adopted by Enfinity, based in Waregem, West Flanders, to create its sister company. However, Gloww has a twist.
Where the American companies would typically charge a standard rent for the panels, Gloww charges homeowners for the electricity they use. When the solar installations generate too much power (for example, on a sunny day), the surplus is injected into the power grid, turning the homeowner’s electrical meter back.
“Every kilowatt injected into the power grid is a kilowatt that’s not taken into account on your next energy bill,” explains Dieter Van Huffel of Enfinity. It’s also a clean source of electricity that someone else on the grid can use.
In the Gloww concept, the customer pays for the installation of solar panels (€356 to €615) and then pays a bi-monthly bill for the electricity they generate and use. Insurance, maintenance and monitoring for 25 years are bundled in with the installation costs, so the panels are guaranteed for a quarter of a century.
“The generated electricity is up to 15% cheaper than the electricity from your utility company,” says Van Huffel. “Furthermore, you won’t have to pay distribution taxes because the energy is generated on the homeowner’s roof.”
Global trend
There is also potential for solar panels to be incorporated during construction. “For new construction projects, it’s wise to invest in sustainable energy technologies. In the long run, these provide great savings in costs and energy,” says Nathalie Van den Broecke, manager of Gloww.
Everybody who owns a house can now generate solar energy
This could have great benefits not only for people building new homes, but for businesses that have a large amount of roof space and find themselves needing to reduce their carbon footprint, whether for legislative or publicity reasons.
This kind of opening of solar energy to new markets is part of a larger trend concerning the rise of renewable energy. Michio Kaku, the American poster boy of theoretical physics, said in a video on bigthink.com that there is currently “a battle between different kinds of energy sources that’ll go on for 10 to 15 years”.
He continues: “I suspect that in about 10 years or so, the rising cost of fossil fuels will intersect with the falling cost of renewable technology. At that point it’ll be economical to go solar.”
From the consumer’s perspective, solar energy is already far more economical, even though the cost of panels is not yet easily affordable – they are still in the area of €5,000. “With this energy concept Gloww is opening the market. Everybody who owns a house can now generate solar energy,” says Van den Broecke.
Now that energy companies have found a way to provide a solar service without the large initial investment, it is clear that Kaku’s idea of the near future is already being formed.
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