Navarra has developed an interactive tool that makes it possible to know the solar potential, both photovoltaic and thermal, that a roof has when solar panels are installed on it. It is enough to indicate an address in the search engine and the heat map will appear. The project was funded by the regional government – on the initiative of a parliamentary amendment by EH Bildu –, the public company Nasuvinsa-Lursarea, the public university of Navarra (UPNA) and the supercomputing center of the public institution Nasertic. It is one of the measures to encourage self-consumption in a community with 6,256 installations of this type, 75% of which are solar.
The Director General of Industry, Energy and Strategic Projects S4, Uxue Itoiz, explains that while Navarre had 31 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity in 2020, this number currently rises to 108, enough to supply around 43,000 homes. That is, in two years, the Foral Community has tripled its production capacity. The goal is much more ambitious: to reach 1,000 MW in 2027. “The growth is so extremely exponential that given the demand, we think we can do it,” says Itoiz. Another set goal is the creation of energy communities across the territory. In fact, one is expected to start operating in Lekunberri in a few months, involving 17 companies, with a planned investment of four million euros and an estimated production of 3.7 MW per year.
Itoiz points out that the solar map is a very useful tool to examine the possibilities of creating an energy community. It can happen, he gives as an example, that the roof of a residential building is small and not sufficient to supply all residents, but the building opposite has a huge roof and consumes little. This is the case, for example, with the Institute and Health Center in the Iturrama district of Pamplona. In the summer, when the school is closed, the energy generated by installing the roof powers the toilet. The prerequisites for the establishment of energy communities are diverse. Standing out among them is the obligation to “incorporate oneself legally – as an association or cooperative, for example – to establish distributions of consumption, to carry out a participatory process and to establish the freedom to enter and leave the community whenever you wish”.
Thanks to European funds, the Navarre Executive subsidizes up to 65% of the costs for the implementation of the facilities. However, the initial spate of applications exhausted the first-aid bag – with more funds arriving in late 2022 – creating a significant bottleneck that has meant there are still people today who have not received the money. However, the situation has returned to normal, Itoiz assures: “At the moment we have funds and assume that we can expand them.” In addition to the subsidies, there are tax deductions, which according to Itoiz can amount to up to 30%. A guide has been included with the solar card summarizing the steps to follow to install the solar panels and request help for self-consumption and storage. In addition, regulations for facilities have been tightened in recent years.
The person responsible for the Nasuvinsa-Lursarea Territorial Observatory of Navarra, Xabier Velasco, is behind the solar map project. The operation is simple: the desired address is entered in the search engine, the roof is selected and data such as the usable footprint are retrieved, as well as other energy indicators such as estimated annual production, savings in greenhouse gas emissions, the average cost of the investment and its annual maintenance and the greenhouse Estimate of economic savings on electricity or gas bill. The tool offers a differentiated calculation between the installation of photovoltaic panels – to generate electricity – and thermal panels – to heat the water.
Supercomputing to process the data
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In order to obtain this data, Velasco advises that a significant use of resources was made. Using the methodology developed by the Public University of Navarra, the data from more than nine million sensors on the roofs of the buildings were analyzed: “Points were generated every two meters on each roof and in each of them a visible horizon of the sun’s path. They calculated where there were obstructions and then used meteorological data to estimate the total annual irradiance at that point.” In short, they calculated how many hours of sunshine per year a sensor placed in a location and oriented in a certain direction would receive. The massive amount of data obtained necessitated the intervention of the Nasertic Supercomputing Center. “We processed 20 blocks, 20 points, in parallel. It was as if 20 computers on the network were processing the data at the same time,” explains Velasco.
Capturing part of the sun map of Navarre.
The performances achieved are in a range between 155 and 333 kilowatts/hour per square meter. In the northern part of Navarre, the roofs appear more yellowish on the map (less powerful), while in the south, where the degree of insolation is higher, the roofs are orange or red. In any case, Itoiz emphasizes that “even if the roof is yellow, you always have solar potential”.
All of this was reflected in the interactive tool, which also introduced the property restrictions and current regulations that prevent the installation of solar panels on Cultural Property (BIC). This circumstance and the constant construction and destruction of real estate make it necessary to update the map regularly.
To date, no institution outside of Navarre has contacted the participating institutions to inquire about the tool. If they do, Velasco assures them, they could easily apply it to their territories: “It can be replicated in any region as long as they have climate data, the digital elevation model, building information and cultural heritage information (BIC).”
Looking to the future, Navarra is working on other initiatives such as covering children’s playgrounds or car parks with solar panel pergolas. In addition, the provincial government is working on a groundbreaking project at international level: the covering of the Canal de Navarra with photovoltaic panels, an ongoing hydraulic work that will bring water from the Irati River to the center and southern areas of the municipality. “This pilot project will power half of the Navarre government’s facilities,” explains Velasco. The premise remains to maximize humanized spaces to reduce environmental impact.