The Growth of Solar Power In Mexico

In the United States, the government is making huge investments in the residential solar market, and given the growth of solar in Mexico over the last 15 years or so, it would not be a surprise to see the Mexican government making huge investments into the residential solar market.

Mexico has some of the world’s greatest solar resources. In fact, Northern Mexico is considered to have the world’s third best solar insolation potential(insolation potential is a measure of solar radiation received), with areas that are estimated to have 5kWh/m2. Solar resources in Mexico are 60% greater than those of Germany, and less than 1% of Mexico’s land area would need to be developed in order to power the entire nation. At the same time, Mexico’s energy needs are expected to grow by 7% year over year, with even higher growth rates in the more populated areas. With all of this potential, why is Mexico not a front runner in the global solar industry?

Mexico has around 23 million homes that are connected to the energy grid. 22.5 million of those 23 million homes are running on electricity that is currently heavily subsidized by the government. Electricity rates for those 22.5 million homes are billed somewhere between 6 cents and 9 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is quite a bit less than the cost of creating the energy in the first place.

Around half a million grid-connected homes in Mexico are subject to DAC(De Alto Consumo or high consumption rate), which raises their price for electricity to 22 cents per kilowatt-hour. Many industry analysts believe it is unlikely that Mexico will be able to continue these subsidies for too long and that electricity rates will eventually have to reflect the actual cost of service of electricity. If these 22.5 million homes were to all of a sudden stop being subsidized by the government, then the huge increase in residential electricity rates would really open the door for solar in Mexico.

Growth in the solar industry in Mexico has recently been outpacing growth in the United States. With so much sunshine, especially in Northern Mexico, you can look for continued growth in the Mexico solar market for years to come.

Kyocera Solar is one of the best companies in Mexico for installation of solar panels. If you are a homeowner and spending more than $21 per week for electricity then visit the Kyocera Solar website: Kyocera Solar
Or give them a call to discuss solar panels at your home or business.

Information from this article has come from several sources, including:
Green Tech Media
Renewable Energy World