A web from OBSA and the Andorran Government provides information on buildings to promote the use of solar energy
Andorra has a very high potential for solar energy, especially in buildings. As a result, the Government and the Observatori de la Sostenibilitat d’Andorra(Andorran Sustainability Observatory, OBSA) have set up a website showing opportunities for the installation of solar panels on building roofs.
At the moment, the tool – available both on the OBSA and Ministry of the Environment websites – provides information on buildings in Andorra la Vella, Escaldes-Engordany, Sant Julià de Lòria and Ordino, but by year’s end the remaining parishes should be incorporated. The information provided includes the cost of installation and potential yields.
Andorra Telecom is a member of the board of the OBSA, an investigation centre dedicated to applied research in projects related to social, economic and environmental sustainability in Andorra.
The Principality has a high potential for solar energy. In fact, for buildings, it is the renewable energy source with the most potential, as stated by Carles Miquel, Head of the Office of Energy and Climate Change.
According to the Director of the OBSA, Marc Pons, this platform has two main goals. Firstly, it wants to be educational, as it explains what solar energy is and provides information on the use of this energy in Andorra. Secondly, it includes an interactive map showing building roofs and the potential of each of them, one-by-one, with the installation of solar panels. For example, information is provided on potential costs and yield.
Miquel stated that the Government promotes solar energy both through grants from the Pla Renova and a specific programme for promoting implementation. “We always aspire to more. We would like to be able to take advantage of solar energy on a larger scale,” he stated, adding that these programmes generate a great deal of interest.
The national demand for energy, according to the information provided by Miquel, represents 0.4% of the total radiation received by the country. He also emphasised that Andorra’s White Paper on Energy includes four principal axes: energy efficiency, an increase in production, the reduction of greenhouse gases and the reduction of external dependency, and that the promotion of solar energy meets with all four. This new tool is the result of a collaboration between the Government and the OBSA.
