Average wait time of 2.5 years to install subsidized solar panels at home

After calls were opened to apply for grants to install solar panels in private homes, financed by Next Generation funds, there was an initial avalanche of more than 75,000 requests. 

Only 18% of applicants for grants have received the money, more than a year and a half after the call closed.

ICAEN, the Catalan Institute of Energy, the body managing the subsidies, are resolving requests with an average wait time of 2.5 years.

The payment term, of up to 13 months, must then be added to this wait time, before the applicant receives the grant, once the installation is justified.

Grants worth a total combined €400 million have been requested, an amount that far exceeds the budget for the project, €208.8 million. So far, €182.4 million have been granted, and €51.8 million paid.

“Frustration”

Many of these applicants are individuals who sent their application more than two years ago and who are still waiting to receive the aid, having installed the solar panels at home already.

Often, subsidies for individuals are processed by their electricity supplier or, directly, the installer of the plates.

One of these companies, based in Vallès Occidental and which has 15,000 installations in the residential sector alone, admits to the Catalan News Agency that the slowness in granting and paying the subsidies “has generated a lot of frustration” among its customers.

However, they assure that the delays are not widespread, and point out that in other regions, such as Madrid, “they have been much more efficient” in paying out the grants.