PROSOL-ELEC Introduction
The solar photovoltaic energy market has experienced very strong growth since the late 1990s. The significant and continuous evolution of global photovoltaic module production has allowed this industry to achieve technological maturity and a continuous decrease in module production costs.
Given the promising outlook for solar photovoltaics, Tunisia seeks to develop grid-connected applications of this technology nationwide, especially as it has favorable sunshine conditions and a good track record through projects carried out in the field of rural electrification and water pumping by solar energy.
To this end, a regulatory and incentive framework has been established. This framework stipulates:
- Authorization for the residential sector and establishments and groups of establishments operating in the industrial, agricultural, or tertiary sectors to produce electricity for their own consumption from solar photovoltaic energy while benefiting from the right to sell surplus electricity produced to the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company.
- The establishment of a premium of 30% of the investment cost with a ceiling of three thousand dinars (3,000 TND) per kilowatt-peak of power and fifteen thousand dinars (15,000 TND) per photovoltaic installation.
In addition, and to ensure the conditions conducive to the spread of solar buildings in the residential sector, Tunisia has implemented the PROSOL ELEC project, which relies on an incentive mechanism inspired by that of the PROSOL project, which led to a real change in scale of the solar water heating market.