Amid high prices for electricity produced in power plants, the Estonian government plans to increase availability of state co-funding for both improving energy efficiency and for installing solar panels, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reports.
In the Estonian government, two solar panel programmes are under preparation: one for private homes and one for apartment buildings.
«The existing pot for solar panels is EUR 3.7 million, which is clearly not enough. We are looking for additional sums and I hope we will find them,» noted the Estonian Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Andres Sutt.
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The apartment buildings programme focusing on installing solar panels and increased energy efficiency is worth EUR ten million. While apartment buildings will have to demonstrate better efficiency, there are fewer requirements in the private residences programme. Taking into account the differences in the level of income across Estonia, the owners of private houses in Tallinn and Tartu will be compensated for ten percent of the cost of panels, with the support rising to 20 percent elsewhere in Estonia.
Targo Kalamees, a professor of building engineering physics at the Tallinn University of Technology, evaluated that the pay-back period of solar panels is decreasing amid of electricity and gas price rise. Currently, the average estimated pay-back period was around a decade, while eight years should be more accurate today, Kalamees estimated as quoted by the ERR.
Estonia to increase state co-funding to installing solar panels
