Sweden allocates $80 million for solar rebates in 2019

Thesum devoted to the rebate scheme was increased by another $32.4 million on topof what the government had previously allocated. The percentage covering thecosts for buying and installing a PV system will be lowered from 30% to 20%,which may result in a higher number of installations and larger growth volumes.

The Swedishgovernment has announced that the budget for the solar rebate program willreach a total of 736 million SEK ($79.9 million) in 2019.

This is lower than the SEK 915 million allocated in severalphases last year, but is considerably higher than the sum of SEK 400 millionwhich the government earmarked in 2017 and the SEK 436 million budget thathad originally been announced for this year.

Furthermore, the government has decided to reduce the rebatepercentage from 30% to 20%, after in 2018 it was increased the opposite way.“The new support percentage is applied at the time of the decision and thusalso applies to applications that are now in the queue,” the government said.“This enables the investment support for solar systems to be provided for moreprojects than previously forecast.”

Overall, the Swedish Energy Agency, Energimyndigheten hasdevoted SEK 3.0 billion ($323 million) to the solar rebate program for theperiod 2009 to 2019.

Thanks to the highest levels of the budget for 2017 and 2018,Sweden had a record year in new installations in 2018 with newly deployedcapacity reaching about 180 MW. Under the program, homeowners, businesses andpublic organizations are entitled to receive an initial investment support partof the costs for purchasing and installing a rooftop PV installation.

Systems installed under the scheme can also participate tothe Norwegian-Swedish electricity certificate system.