€1 Billion Residential Solar Program In Poland

• Poland has come out with a new scheme to support solar PV installations for the residential segment
• With a dedicated budget of €1 billion, the Mój Prądor My Electricity scheme promises to cover up to 50% of installation costs
• Systems in the range of 2 kW to 10 kW capacity in less urbanized areas will be eligible for the rebates offered under the scheme
• Government hopes the systems installed under the program to generate close to 1 TWh of clean power

Poland has launched a new rebate scheme to encourage the uptake of residential solar PV. It committed a budget of PLN 1 billion ($262 million) for the program it calls Mój Prąd or My Electricity. The program will support 2 kW to 10 kW PV systems with up to 50% of installation costs and up to PLN 5,000 ($1,309) per system.

The government is hoping systems installed under the program to generate approximately 1 TWh of clean power. The program targets less urbanized areas.

"The Mój Prąd program is a very important support for the development of electricity production from renewable sources. Thanks to the promotion of prosumer energy generation, we not only strengthen the local energy security of Poles and improve the purity of the air they breathe, but also strengthen the Polish economy," said Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchórzewski.

Small scale solar PV installations in the country till the end of 2018 were reported to be more than 54,000, an 88% YoY increase and 235% more than in 2016. Total installed capacity of these systems reached 343 MW by end of 2018. In Q1/2019, Poland installed 72 MW of small scale solar power capacity, which is the highest increase in this category so far, taking the total to exceed 415 MW till March 31, 2019 with well over 65,000 systems installed.

A recent study by the country's renewable energy institute IEO estimates the cumulative PV capacity of Poland to have crossed 700 MW till May 2019 and sees 1 GW of new deployments coming up in 2019 (see Poland To Add 1 GW PV In 2019).