Gironde Habitat and Enedis are experimenting with shared solar energy

Ultimately, a device of this type could make it possible to reduce the electricity bill of the inhabitants of an apartment building by 30%. For now, we are still a long way off. But the installation presented jointly by the social landlord of the department, Gironde Habitat, the operator of the electricity network, Enedis, and the specialized company, Inelia, constitutes a first concrete step forward. This experiment in the social residence "Les Souffleurs", in Bordeaux Belcier, is the first device for collective self-consumption of electricity in France. It aims to supply the consumption of 60 households with the electricity produced by the 260 m2 of solar panels on the roof of this BBC-certified building built in 2014.

A principle already operational for individual housing but which was only authorized and regulated for collective housing very recently by the law of 24 February 2017 relating to self-consumption of electricity and its implementing decree of 28 April 2017.

Up to 70 euros in annual savings

"This should allow a reduction in expenses estimated between 50 and 70 euros per year and per household", indicates Sigrid Monnier, general manager of Gironde Habitat. An amount to be compared to the average expenditure of electricity of a French household which is around 800 euros per year in collective housing with electric heating as is the case in this residence. However, the director insists on the experimental nature of the operation: "It is a first step which aims above all to settle all the technical and legal elements which are very complex."

Indeed, making the link between the energy produced, the consumption of each household and the transfers with the traditional electricity network is not an easy task. The system must go through the installation of new Linky communicating individual meters, distributed by Enedis. The public operator also plays the role of trusted third party between all member households to ensure, in near real time, that the distribution key defined collectively to distribute the energy produced is respected.

"The Linky meter is essential on several levels: to measure energy flows, check the distribution keys and adjust them if necessary. In the long term, it will also allow households to compare their electricity consumption with each other", says Thierry Gibert, the regional director of Enedis. In this residence, Gironde Habitat should favor a distribution of earnings according to the surface area of ​​the accommodation rather than the amount of consumption to avoid any inflationary effect.

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A still experimental phase

But for the moment, the device inaugurated on December 1 will only supply solar electricity to the common areas in order to ensure the reliability of the system and its effectiveness in the spring and especially next summer. It is therefore only in the second half of 2018 that the 60 households will be able to embark on collective self-consumption, provided that they adhere to the system and data sharing... and that the installation produces enough energy. . Especially since, paradoxically, the greater the number of households to participate, the lower the gain for each.

For his part, Rémi Cazamajour, director of Inelia, a company specializing in photovoltaics based in Lormont and which served as the backbone of this experiment, is optimistic about the possibilities of such devices in the long term: "We can consider a reduction in the electricity bill of between 15 and 30% and a return on investment of around 8 to 12 years to finance the cost of the solar panels."

In absolute terms, if the energy produced is greater than the consumption of 60 households - for example in the middle of August when the tenants are on vacation and the building is flooded with sunlight - it could even be resold on the national network or at the supermarket at the foot of the building. This will be one of the questions that this experiment will have to answer.

Smart cities

Since beyond the sole consumption of housing, Enedis also invites us to project ourselves into the future of our cities. "You have to think about energy networks linked to the smart city, the smart city, and to electric vehicle fleets for example. Self-consumption devices are part of the answer", insists Philippe Monloubou.

The national operator indicates that it has around ten collective self-consumption projects in the pipeline, particularly in Brittany, Occitanie and the Côte-d'Azur in partnership with local authorities or social housing organisations. For its part, Gironde Habitat evokes several projects in the department. "The drop in the bill will clearly be the incentive to convince the tenants. This experiment will then have to be judged over a full year", concludes Jean-Luc Gleyze, the president (PS) of the Gironde Departmental Council, the supervisory authority of Gironde. Habitat.

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