By Rony Junior El Daccache
Applications for ‘Photovoltaics for All' opened on Friday, making grant schemes for solar panel installations available to those who meet the requirements.
President Nikos Christodoulides said within the first few hours, there had been a huge interest in the scheme. Specifically, by 6pm there were 1,220 applications.
The plan is set to allow solar panels to be installed on the roofs of households which do not have the means to pay for them outright. Payment for the panels will subsequently be made via consumers' electricity bills.
Payments will be made over a period of five years in bimonthly instalments of €150, while it is believed the presence of solar panels can reduce the cost of a bimonthly electricity bill by as much as €260, thus allowing consumers to immediately begin making savings.
In addition, the government is offering grants of up to €1,000 for the installation of the solar panels, at the rate of €250 per kilowatt.
Additional funding is also provided for applicants to proceed with roof insulation cladding.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, energy ministry spokeswoman Rona Hadjipapa last month said that priority in the first instance will be given to owners of small and medium-sized houses, allowing them to take advantage of the scheme and begin saving money.
Apartment blocks will also be eligible for the scheme, provided that an agreement can be reached between all the owners of the apartments in a block.
More information is available on the energy ministry's website and applications can only be submitted online. Details on the categories can be found here.
Part of the scheme's funding comes from Cyprus' recovery and resilience plan.
Meanwhile, EU pilot project ‘Prolightmed' has funded €3 million towards solar panel installations on the parking lot canopy in Peyia's stadium, aimed at reducing the annual costs for public lighting.
Peyia municipality will contribute €465,350 to the project.
“The main objective of this project is to adapt to our changing climate through energy-efficient solutions for street lighting,” Peyia mayor Marinos Lambrou said,
The project is in collaboration with municipalities in Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and the Union of Bulgarian Black Sea local authorities. Alongside that, the energy and environment agency of Arrabida in Portugal, the national energy technology complex in Italy, as well as the Technical University of Crete in Greece will also be contributing.
“I thank the European Union for its trust, and we look forward to working alongside those partnering to implement this crucial project for Peyia,” he added.
According to Eurostat's latest figures for the first half of 2023, Cyprus ranked as the seventh most expensive country in Europe in terms of electricity.
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