Advancing one roof at a time – News from Ekogella

Ekogella is doing well, with a new approved budget, working with Tecnalia, Aiguasol and La Mirada, counting 28 members and is in the process of figuring out how to proceed with their PV installations.

Aiguasol is currently estimating the total rated power of the community – based on individual profiles, trying to minimise surplus and maximise self-consumption as much as possible. This is fundamental to figure out how much PV needs to be installed and one member is missing to do the final roundup.

Once that goes forward, solar panels will be installed in 4 different locations. Because of current legislation that limits the distance around which power can be shared from PV to 2km, some artful arranging is in order. Ispaster is comprised of 10 different neighbourhoods and installations needs to be placed in such a way that every community member is covered.

In order to scout for these locations, 10 country/farmhouses were visited and inspected. Six of them were not viable for the roofs were not in the required condition [these are old constructions with roofs made of wood and shingles]. The roofs that were viable will be installed with up to 10kw to maximize the amount of PV installable without needing another, special permit, making it more cost effective.

The use of these roofs was legally signed to Ekogella with the help of La Mirada and the municipality, and the community will be responsible for the upkeep.