The number of solar systems installed for self-consumption in Serbia grew from 2021 to the end of 2023 to about 1,870 users in the household category and 640 users in the legal entity category. This growth shows that consumers in Serbia are interested in producing and using solar energy to help reduce emissions, protect the environment and secure a more independent and reliable electricity supply.
Obtaining the status of a solar customer-producer, i.e. a prosumer, became possible in Serbia with the adoption of the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources and the Decree on the criteria, conditions and method of settlement between customer-producers and suppliers in 2021. Meanwhile, to promote prosumer status and make it simpler, faster and more efficient for citizens to become prosumers, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), together with the Ministry of Mining and Energy, launched the Solar Calculator platform.
This platform helps give a realistic view of all the benefits and the potential savings prosumers achieve. To that end, an analysis of prosumer bills from October 2023 was recently carried out, with an explanation of every item on the bill, focusing above all on the items that enter the final calculation and how they affect savings and the payback period of an investment in a self-consumption solar system. The explanations also cover changes in the calculation of VAT and excise duty introduced during 2023. The analysis concludes that after these changes VAT and excise duty have a more favourable effect on savings, because they are calculated on the electricity actually consumed.
“The analysis also showed that all items calculated on the basis of electricity drawn from the grid do not affect prosumers' savings, because they are the same as for consumers who are only customers. The only item that has an unfavourable effect on prosumers' savings, and therefore on the payback period, is access to the distribution network. Since October 2023, the cost of access to the distribution network has been included in the excise calculation and accounts for 43 percent of total costs,” explains Milena Milosavljević, author of the platform, who carried out the analysis. She points out that prosumers can see the full itemised calculation on the back of their bill, and more information is available in the section explaining prosumer bills on the Solar Calculator platform.
As for the shorter payback period, it was also positively affected by amendments to the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources and the Decision on the regulated electricity price for guaranteed supply, which changed EPS's price list in November 2023.
“For a household in a 100 m² building with consumption of 6,000 kWh and a required capacity of 4.9 kW, the analysis showed that the payback period for solar prosumers fell from 14 to 10 years. For other consumers with consumption of, for example, 12,500 kWh per month, a 600 m² roof, a required capacity of 121 kW and a possible capacity of 100 kW, the payback period fell from 10 to 7 years,” Milosavljević specifies. She stresses that all savings on the Solar Calculator, and therefore in the analysis, are calculated on the basis of the required and maximum permitted capacity of the installed solar system. Details about these limits, and about the procedure for connecting prosumers to Serbia's distribution network, can be found in the Procedures section of the Solar Calculator platform.
“The Solar Calculator is intended for everyone who wants to invest in solar systems, whether households, residential communities or companies. We carry out analyses of this kind to help create the most stimulating conditions for increasing the number of prosumers in Serbia and thus contribute to lower emissions and environmental protection. The Solar Calculator allows citizens to see the benefits that prosumer status brings, such as savings on electricity bills, the production of green kWh and independence from electricity price increases,” concludes Aleksandar Popović of GIZ.
Source: energetskiportal.rs (in Serbian)
👉 See other solar power plants we have built
Would you like to cut your electricity costs too?
👉 Contact us and we will prepare an offer tailored to your needs.
We guide you through the whole process of signing a prosumer contract, so that you can hand your surplus electricity to EPS for storage and later use it to reduce your electricity bills. To learn more about the prosumer model in advance, see the official brochure of the Center for the Advancement of the Environment (in Serbian).
