Spain Solar Enthusiasts And Workers “Turn Themselves In” At Spanish Prison

August 4th, 2013 by Zachary Shahan

This article was first published on Solar Love.

Image Credit: Solar Tradex

Eurosolar and the local energy cooperative Som Energia organized a protest this week at a Modelo prison in Barcelona regarding Spanish solar policies. Reportedly, as part of the protest, the solar workers and advocates contended that they would “hand themselves in,” as they would declare themselves “guilty” of “using photovoltaics for saving electricity generation made from dirty fossil fuels and nuclear energy.”

Solar power has gone from having great support in the sunny and hot country of Spain to having solar incentives pulled out from underneath consumers suddenly, and even retroactively! It has done great damage not only to the solar industry in Spain but also to Spain’s reputation among investors of all sorts. The last thing an investor wants to see is a government go and retroactively change a policy it had implemented in a way that would hurt people who made financial decisions based on that policy.

Image Credit: Solar Tradex

One particular policy change that the solar advocates were protesting was the policy that makes it illegal to consume solar power not generated by the country’s oligopoly of energy companies, with fines for doing so of up to €30 million ($40 million).

A statement read at the solar protest and included on the solar advocates’ website stated: “The criminalisation of the use of solar electricity for those citizens who want to produce their own energy is a direct attack on human rights and on energy democracy, thus preventing anyone from contributing to reducing emissions to avoid climate change.”

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Tags: Barcelona solar protest, Eurosolar, Modelo, som energia, Spain, spain solar, Spain solar policies, Spain solar protest, Spain solar subsidies, Spain solar subsidy cuts

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

DillWeed7

Why aren’t we hearing anything about Siemens?
- http://zacharyshahan.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  Huh? We’ve written a ton about Siemens.
DillWeed7

They should turn themselves in in mass droves. Overwhelming civil disobedience.
JamesWimberley

The current Spanish government’s solar policy is so reactionary and unfair that it may be legally and politically unsustainable. Even the big companies it is supposed to benefit are cheesed off by the constant and often retroactive changes.
de co

Solar power has moved from the hot sun and the strong support of the Spanish National Solar Incentive consumers suddenly pulled from below, even retroactively!

http://www.sungoldpower.co.uk/