Over 1,200 Ukrainian households install solar power systems since year-start

Some 2,323 households have set up solar panels in Ukraine with a total capacity of 37 MW as of October 21, attracting nearly EUR 35 million investment.

As reported, 688 households preferred solar energy in the third quarter (Q3) of 2017, which was 42% up from Q2 2017, and three times more than in the same period of 2016, when only 195 families installed solar panels. Noteworthy, there were only 38 such households in Q3 2015.

"Such an ever-increasing demand for solar energy is due to Law No. 514-VIII, introduced as early as 2015, and a profitable 'green' euro-pegged tariff. This means that families can sell surplus of their produced 'clean' energy to the [power] grid and profit off of it, without reservations about inflation," said the agency's head Serhiy Savchuk.

The households that had installed solar panels up to 30 kW in 2017 could sell the excess "clean" electricity to the power grid at a price of 18.09 euro cents per 1 kWh until 2030, the report said.

Read alsoUkraine sees boost in renewable energy projectsLocal authorities also assist in the transition to solar power. In particular, households in Lviv region receive 22% per annum of the credit on solar panels from the regional budget, while 20% of the loan amount is returned to those in Zhytomyr region.

"As we see, solar power plants become accessible to ordinary citizens. This is a signal to investors, as the huge market of solar panels opens because there are 6.5 million households in Ukraine. Thus, the construction of a solar module production plant will be a beneficial business and a positive contribution to the country's economy," Savchuk said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on October 1, 2014, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved the national renewable energy action plan until 2020, which provides for an increased share of renewables in the total electricity generation balance from about 1% to 11%.