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Claxton916 t1_ivmjjes wrote

Reply to comment by Straightup32 in In France all new large parking lots must now be covered in solar panels starting in july 2023. by BuildingBabel

Maybe I read it wrong but it looks like the business owners pay for it and the energy goes to the public?

It’d make more sense for the power to go to that particular business and then have the energy company buy the surplus to power homes.

I don’t have solar but my energy company has an opt-in program where they buy any excess energy, or all of the energy you generate.

If the energy companies are going to buy excess energy in France then it could be somewhat of an investment for those businesses.

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thefpspower t1_ivml0h2 wrote

Usually it goes to the business first, surplus goes to the public and you get paid very badly for what you provide extra. It's unlikely to have much surplus at all though since businesses work during the day when production is high, so it's just cheaper electricity.

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Claxton916 t1_ivmm8d5 wrote

It’s still somewhat of an investment though, no? Generating your own electricity rather than buying on from someone else.

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thefpspower t1_ivmogdi wrote

Yes, for businesses it's very worth it, I know a company that moved CNC machines to another factory warehouse that had tons of solar panels because they had surplus and it pays off quickly if you use it.

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Fit-Calligrapher-117 t1_ivmsbt9 wrote

I also don’t think this is supposed to be an investment as much as it’s supposed to displace the cost of paying for electricity generated from coal with clean energy generated on site

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H1ld3gunst t1_ivqxviu wrote

I don’t know how it is in France, but in Germany there is higher payout if you only provide the net, without using any yourself, for bigger scale projects. It’s still not high, but it does pay over a while. The land directly next highways is often plastered with solar cells. Obviously it is profitable.

I’m guessing even more so on parking lots. You still have the parking lot. Only now it’s shady.

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