One homeowner's surprising bill after installing solar panels: "Check if it's really worth it."

Throughout the rest of Europe, we're known as "the land of the sun," and there's no other way around it. But in Spain, especially in the plateau areas and below, there are undoubtedly many more sunny days than cloudy ones.

That's why solar energy, and the system for capturing this energy (solar panels) has become a very popular option in our country.

This isn't just a matter of stopping paying for electricity after the initial installation investment, but over time you can even generate profits if your consumption is lower than your production.

In Spain, the law on self-consumption of electricity, such as that generated with solar panels, is regulated primarily by Law 24/2013 and Royal Decree 244/2019. These laws define how you can consume your own energy and differentiate between:

1. Self-consumption without surplus: In this case, you cannot send energy to the grid. You only consume what you produce.
2. Self-consumption with surplus: here, you can send your excess energy to the electrical grid.

As a self-consumer, you have the right to consume the energy you generate and sell any surplus back to the grid. Furthermore, the renewable energy you consume is free of charges or tolls . However, you also have the obligation to contribute to the costs of the electricity system , like any other consumer, and to comply with safety regulations.

But this isn't the case everywhere, and as one American Reddit user reported, he installed solar panels on his house, and when he received the first "bill"—which wasn't a bill because he didn't owe the energy company anything—he was very angry about what they had done to him.

The homeowner showed that they received a credit on their bill for the excess solar energy sold to their electricity provider, Eversource. The document indicated that Eversource's "total current charges" amounted to -$193.67, meaning the customer owed the company almost -$200, which in other words, the company owes them that amount.

"I just received my first bill from Eversource after installing my solar production meter last month," the thread's author said. "Want to hit them where it hurts? Hit their wallet. See if solar is a good option for you."

The owner expressed his anger because , despite being able to monetize the energy he produced, he only received credits from the company, and as other comments pointed out, the energy company did have the capacity to resell this energy to other people for "a premium price."