Households and small commercial solar users in Cyprus can legally avoid periodic cut-offs by switching their systems to a zero-export connection, according to information given to Phileleftheros. However, the cost of doing so may outweigh the financial benefit for most consumers.
The option allows households and small businesses to use the electricity produced by their photovoltaic systems only for self-consumption, without exporting power to the grid.
According to the Electricity Authority of Cyprus, zero export can be applied in two ways. The first is permanent zero export, under which the photovoltaic system operates solely for self-consumption and does not feed electricity into the grid. In that case, the system is generally not subject to production limits, except in exceptional cases linked to safety or grid stability.
The second is an occasional zero export. Under that arrangement, the photovoltaic installation can export energy to the grid when system conditions allow. Still, when needed to maintain balance and the safe operation of the electricity system, it receives an instruction to switch to zero export and temporarily restricts electricity exports.
To apply either option, the photovoltaic system must be modified through the installation of a smart meter. That conversion can also be carried out on existing systems.
Technocrats estimate that the modification costs about 500 euros, while the annual saving from avoiding cut-offs is no more than around 20 euros.
That means the cost of converting a system may be higher than the financial impact of the cut-offs themselves, despite the wider public perception that the losses are substantial.
Michalis Dracoudis, chief executive of Dracoudis Energy, said a household with an average consumption of around 300 watts an hour would lose only a few euro cents during a four-hour cut-off. Based on an electricity price of 29 cents per kilowatt-hour, the loss would come to about 34 cents.
He said that even if that figure is multiplied across the annual instances when solar systems are cut off, the total cost does not exceed 20 euros a year, even on a rough calculation that also includes weekends.
On that basis, a consumer facing cut-offs of around 7% to 8% over a full year would need more than 20 years to recover the cost of converting the system to zero export, he said.
Dracoudis said the smart meter itself costs around 150 euros plus VAT, with a further 80 euros for installation materials and around 150 euros in labour costs.
For newly installed photovoltaic systems, the cost may be slightly lower, but he said it remains high compared with the likely benefit.
Asked whether batteries could offer a solution, Dracoudis said they cost around 700 to 800 euros per kilowatt-hour, pushing the total outlay into the thousands of euros, which he said was not justified compared with the annual losses caused by cut-offs.
He said converting a photovoltaic system to zero export may make economic sense only in some exceptional commercial cases, such as industrial users operating machinery at midday, where the cost-benefit balance may be more favourable.