Buying in Rural Valencia Spain

When people decide to move to Spain, the things that they are wary of, are, amongst other things, being without the "comforts of home", i.e. mains electricity, water and drainage, and a telephone.  If the estate agent broaches the subject of solar power and/or deposit, or tank, water, some people are disinclined to even consider the possibilities, as solar power is thought of as "something new" and therefore to be avoided.  Deposit water supply is seen as returning to something akin to the Middle Ages.

When we started looking for property in Spain, we contacted Peek at Spain who, after showing us numerous properties within our original criteria, showed us the perfect house.  Our priorities when searching had been the usual, mains electricity, mains water/drainage and telephone.

Our property came with none of the above, but the situation and style more than made up for this.  We were told that solar power was easily obtained, and although enquiries were made, by Peek at Spain SL, on our behalf, to see if mains water could be added, this proved not to be practicable, at least in the immediate future.  With their help, we contacted both a solar system installer, and the man who would be our water supplier, who both proved to be extremely helpful.

Solar Power

When we first told people, both here and back in England, we were having this installed, they thought we were mad!  However, it is not such a new concept, nor as scary as people think.  Solar Power systems have been around for many years, and have continually improved, and provide totally "green" energy.  Within days of purchasing the house, work began to install the solar panels.  This was completed within the week, giving us more than enough power to run all the usual household appliances e.g. TV, fridge/freezer and washing machine (‘A' category recommended) computer, lighting, etc., enough for a 5 bed house.

We also run the swimming pool pump and filtration system several times a day via the solar system.  Although installation costs are initially quite expensive, (for our system about 12,500 Euros) the EU gives grants of anything up to 50% for houses who are not already supplied by the National Grid.  These are applied for, and processed by, the supplier, and are not applicable for a self-installed system.  This year, 2005, the grant amount was around 24%.

We have now been advised that there is a Government Zero interest loan available to get you on the way!

Once installed, the system pays for itself, and there is the added advantage of NO BILLS!  There is also the reassurance that we have constant supply, other than those on the National Grid, whose supply sometimes fails in adverse weather conditions, or when too many appliances are used at once.  On particularly grey days (of which there are very few) we have a generator to boost the battery supply from time to time, thus the only cost is a minimal amount of fuel to power this occasionally.

Since acquiring this system, we have become much more aware of what electricity we are using - turning off unnecessary lights, appliances etc, whenever possible, and using low energy bulbs, although this is not strictly necessary.  Certain things use up a lot of power, e.g. irons and electric kettles.  Although it is possible to run the iron using the solar system, it drains the system quite quickly, so we tend to minimise the amount of ironing we have to do (thankfully!) and also plug the iron straight into the generator, via an installed socket supply direct to the house.

The system consists of solar panels (amount to be assessed by the installer with regard to your particular requirements), a series of large batteries and a power inverter to convert the stored electricity to usable power - in fact, your very own electricity substation.  After all, when you switch a light on, it makes no difference where the power comes from - it works!