Commercial solar in Spain: rules, permits, costs and how to pay

A business in Spain can build a solar plant on its roof or land and use the power on site under Royal Decree 244/2019, Spain’s self-consumption rules, updated in March 2026. The renewables association APPA puts a typical 180 kW industrial plant at about €126,000 in 2025, paying for itself in five to six years before tax relief. You can buy the plant, lease it or, from 50 kWp, pay only for its power through a PPA.

How does self-consumption work in Spain?

Self-consumption (autoconsumo) means producing electricity at or near your site and using it there: usually a solar plant on a warehouse or factory roof, over a car park or on adjacent land, wired into the site’s installation.

The site stays on the grid: while the plant produces you buy less, and at night you buy as before. Self-consumed renewable power pays no network tolls or system charges, and the plant may belong to another company, which makes leases and PPAs possible.

Zero export, compensation or selling surplus?

First decide what happens to surplus, the power produced when the site is not using it; that sets the arrangement (modalidad) and much of the paperwork.

• Zero export (sin excedentes). An anti-export device keeps power off the grid by curtailing surplus. No grid access and connection permits are needed, whatever the size.
• Export with compensation (acogida a compensación). Your retailer credits surplus monthly against the energy part of your bill, never beyond it and never against tolls and charges. Only for renewable plants of up to 100 kW.
• Export without compensation. Surplus is sold on the market, usually through a representative. It is the route for exporting above 100 kW, and the plant is registered as a production installation.

For solar, the 100 kW limit is measured on the inverters’ rated power. An arrangement must be kept for at least four months.

How big should the plant be?

Size the plant to what the site can use, not to what fits on the roof. Download a year of hourly consumption from your distributor or through Datadis, the platform most distributors share, and set it against the expected output. Exported power earns far less than power you avoid buying: in 2025 solar earned an average of €35.75/MWh on the Spanish market, according to APPA.

On the roof, check usable area, shading and structure; older or lightweight sandwich-panel roofs need a load study, and your insurer will want to review fire risk.

Rounded estimates that may change with the final design.

What changed in 2026?

Royal Decree-law 7/2026 (Real Decreto-ley 7/2026), in force since 22 March 2026 and validated by Congress on 26 March, lets a solar or wind plant of up to 5 MW supply consumers less than 5,000 metres away through the grid, up from 2,000 metres for certain solar plants; such plants always export. It also extended free depreciation for self-consumption plants and widened the local tax reductions councils may offer.

A broader reform is in progress: in October 2026 the government announced it would fast-track a royal decree updating Royal Decree 244/2019, whose draft would cut the minimum stay in an arrangement to one month and give batteries their own framework. It was still pending on 3 November 2026.

Which permits does a business plant need?

It depends on whether you export, the plant’s size and the connection voltage. The usual steps:

• A technical design: a standard design report (memoria técnica de diseño) up to 10 kW, and a project signed by a qualified engineer above that.
• A municipal permit (a responsible declaration, prior notice or works licence, depending on the council) and the construction tax (ICIO).
• Grid access and connection permits, only if you export. Zero-export plants and exporting plants of up to 15 kW on urbanised land are exempt; exporting plants above 100 kW lodge a guarantee of €40 per kW.
• Regional administrative authorisation above 100 kW or with a high-voltage connection, unless the region exempts the plant.
• The electrical installation certificate and, where required, an inspection by an authorised control body (OCA).
• Updated access and supply contracts, a compensation agreement if you choose compensation, and entry in the self-consumption register (automatic for low-voltage plants under 100 kW).

Permits, not the build, set the timetable. What delays projects is a roof that needs strengthening, a transformer without spare capacity or a grid permit with conditions.

What does a commercial plant cost, produce and save?

Prices fall with size: the IEA PVPS survey for Spain put 2023 turnkey prices at about €1.02 per watt for 10 to 100 kW, €0.80 for 100 to 250 kW and €0.73 above 250 kW. APPA puts a typical 180 kW industrial plant commissioned in 2025 at about €126,000, roughly €700 per kWp.

Each kWh used on site saves its energy price plus the tolls, charges and tax billed per kWh, though not the power term. Eurostat puts the average Spanish business price in the first half of 2026, before VAT, at about €0.16/kWh for sites using 20 to 500 MWh a year and €0.13/kWh for 500 to 2,000 MWh.

PVGIS 5.3 with 14% system losses; shading, orientation and mounting change each site’s figure.

Which tax incentives apply?

Councils can cut the construction tax (ICIO) by up to 95%, the property tax (IBI) by up to 50% and the business activity tax (IAE) by up to 50%, but each decides in its own bylaw, and many keep the IBI cut for homes. See our list of 40 municipalities (in Spanish) and our guide to solar tax incentives.

In corporate tax, renewable self-consumption plants that start operating in 2026 can be depreciated freely on up to €500,000 of investment, if the company keeps its average headcount for 24 months. The EU-funded grants of Royal Decree 477/2021 closed to applications on 31 December 2023.

Three ways to pay for the plant

The plant can be the same; what changes is who pays. Buying or leasing has no minimum size; a PPA starts at 50 kWp, as our solar PPA guide explains.

• Buy. Your company pays, from its own funds or a loan, keeps the whole saving and looks after maintenance and insurance.
• Lease. You pay a set instalment over an agreed term; the leasing company owns the plant and maintenance is often included.
• PPA. A financing partner pays for, owns, maintains and insures the plant, and you pay only for the kWh it supplies, at a price set in the contract that starts below what you pay the grid at signing and rises each year by a formula in the contract.

How to start

Aeternus Power is an independent energy company based in Madrid. We work out what your site can produce and the best way to pay for it, bring in a vetted builder (we check licences, warranties and the plants it has actually delivered) and the financing, and oversee the work until the plant is switched on. We never own plants. We are paid a commission by the builder or financing partner we bring in, only if the project goes ahead, and you pay us no fee.

For a first figure, the free preview on our business page shows the plant your roof could take, its output and an indicative saving, buying or with a PPA. For a study with your bills, contact us: we reply within two working days.

Questions

Do I need planning permission for solar on a commercial building in Spain?

You need a municipal permit (a responsible declaration, prior notice or works licence, depending on the council) and pay the construction tax (ICIO). Grid permits apply only if you export, and regional authorisation above 100 kW or at high voltage.

Can a business sell surplus solar power in Spain?

Yes. Up to 100 kW your retailer can credit surplus against the energy part of your bill; above that, surplus is sold on the market, usually through a representative, for far less than grid power costs you.

Does the plant keep working during a power cut?

No. A grid-connected plant shuts down when the grid fails, for safety. Running through an outage needs batteries and a system designed to work isolated from the grid.

Can several companies on a business park share one plant?

Yes, through collective self-consumption: a sharing agreement sets each company’s share of the output, which can differ hour by hour, and since March 2026 a solar plant of up to 5 MW can supply consumers less than 5,000 metres away through the grid.

Sources

• Real Decreto 244/2019, administrative, technical and economic conditions of electricity self-consumption (BOE, consolidated text, last updated 22 March 2026): https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2019-5089
• Real Decreto-ley 7/2026, de 20 de marzo, Plan Integral de Respuesta a la Crisis en Oriente Medio (BOE): https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2026-6544
• Resolution of the Congress of Deputies of 26 March 2026 validating Real Decreto-ley 7/2026 (BOE): https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2026-7125
• Ley 24/2013 del Sector Eléctrico, article 9.5: self-consumed renewable energy is exempt from all tolls and charges (BOE, consolidated text): https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2013-13645
• IDAE: Guía Profesional de Tramitación del Autoconsumo, v.6 (July 2024): https://libreria.miteco.gob.es/ebook/416/free_download/
• Real Decreto 1183/2020 on access and connection to the transmission and distribution networks (BOE): https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2020-17278
• elDiario.es (9 October 2026): the government finalises two decrees to relaunch self-consumption and energy communities: https://www.eldiario.es/economia/gobierno-ultima-decretos-relanzar-autoconsumo-e-impulsar-comunidades-energeticas_1_13574724.html
• Energías Renovables (13 October 2026): the government prepares the urgent route for self-consumption and energy communities: https://www.energias-renovables.com/autoconsumo/el-gobierno-prepara-la-v-a-urgente-20261010
• APPA Renovables: Informe Anual del Autoconsumo Fotovoltaico y Almacenamiento 2025, press release (17 February 2026): https://www.appa.es/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/NdP-APPA-Renovables-El-autoconsumo-consolida-su-aportacion-pero-encadena-tres-anos-de-contraccion-y-reclama-una-fiscalidad-estable_vf.pdf
• APPA Renovables: Informe Anual Renovables y Almacenamiento 2025, average prices captured by each technology (February 2026): https://www.appa.es/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Informe-anual-Energias-Renovables-2025-EXT.pdf
• Energías Renovables (23 February 2026): APPA figures for typical home and industrial installations in 2025: https://www.energias-renovables.com/autoconsumo/el-autoconsumo-solar-dom-stico-en-espa-20260223
• IEA PVPS: National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Spain 2023, fact sheet (December 2024): https://iea-pvps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Fact-Sheet-NSR-Spain.pdf
• European Commission, Joint Research Centre: PVGIS 5.3 photovoltaic output tool: https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/
• Eurostat: electricity prices for non-household consumers, excluding VAT and other recoverable taxes (nrg_pc_205, updated 19 October 2026): https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nrg_pc_205/default/table?lang=en
• Agencia Tributaria: main tax changes in Real Decreto-ley 7/2026, corporate tax (free depreciation for renewable self-consumption): https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/impuesto-sobre-sociedades/novedades-impuesto-sobre-sociedades/novedades-normativa-2026/principales-novedades-tributarias-introducidas-real-febrero.html
• Real Decreto 477/2021, self-consumption and storage incentive programmes, article 4: applications closed on 31 December 2023 (BOE): https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2021-10824
• OCU: how to see your electricity supply data, including the distributors’ Datadis platform: https://www.ocu.org/consumo-familia/derechos-consumidor/consejos/conocer-datos-luz

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