How does a Grid Tied System with Solar Panels Work in Mexico?
In Mexico, CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) allows to generate your own electricity with a photovoltaic solar panels in a grid tied system, and if your installation is below 500 kWp (kilowatt peak meaning the total installed power in the PV modules) you won’t need any special approval from the CRE (Mexican Energy Regulatory Commission).
There are 3 types of grid tied schemes approved by CFE in Mexico for solar panel systems, which were listed in the beginning of 2017 by the CRE, and finally updated in 2020:
1. Net Metering
This is the most commonly used scheme in Mexico by companies, businesses and houses with pv panels connected to the grid. According to the CRE, 99% of the solar panel installations work under NET METERING.
CRE defines netmetering in Mexico following the same basic principle as in the rest of the world. Thus, when an individual or a company has a renewable electricity generation or cogeneration system and produces a volume of energy, it can be: Consumed directly in its electrical appliances at the very same instant or exported to CFE’s General Distribution Networl – RGD (all the surplus electricity not consumed in its appliances). When it is needed more energy at the site, than the energy generated by the system, then the site can take the extra electricity needed from the general electricity grid to satisfy its consumption.
For all this process it is needed a bidirectional or two way watthorimeter, which will measure all the energy injected to the grid by the site as well as the taken from it. At the end of the period CFE will take both values, subtracting the injected energy from the consumed.
At the CFE´s bill, as a user, you will find this subtraction and it can happen 2 different scenarios:1. More energy was consumed vs the produced energy at the site. In this case, you will be billed for the extra energy injected to the site.2. More energy was produced than the needed at the site. The extra energy produced, will be saved for you in an energy bank; so it can be utilized in the following 12 months if needed. If the energy is not utilized, then CFE will reimburse the value of the energy at the value of the Local Marginal Price in the node corresponding to the interconnection point.
By this, CFE grid is utilized as a huge battery to “storage” the energy you are producing and not using at the moment for up to 12 months, and you can sell the not used energy to CFE, although this is not normally used as the prices are usually very low.
2. Net Billing
Total Sell
3. Total Sell
Zero Export
Tipos de montaje
4. Extra: Zero Export:
7. Glosary
CEL: Certificado de Energía Límpia (Clean Energy Certificate, emmited by CRE). 1CEL = 1MWh
CFE: Comisión Federal de Electricidad.
CO2 Footprint: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual or organization, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent.
CRE: Comisión Reguladora de Energía.
ISO 14000: Standard related to the management of environmental systems.
ISR: Impuesto Sobre la Renta (Income Tax).
IVA: Impuesto al Valor Agregado (VAT).
MCEL: Mercado de Certificados de Energía Limpia (CEL Market)
Net Metering: One of the 3 schemes approved by CFE to work with Solar Energy.
Zero Export