Tunisia Clears Homes and Businesses to Run Solar-Plus-Storage as Heatwave Strains Grid

Tunisia's national utility STEG has cleared low-voltage customers, households and businesses among them, to fit photovoltaic storage systems paired with hybrid inverters, according to pv magazine. The green light landed as an unprecedented heatwave gripped the country, with high temperatures logged from July 11 onward.

Under the ruling, owners of PV installations can draw on battery-stored electricity to power their homes when the grid drops out during load-shedding, according to ESS News.

Repeated outages have hit Tunisia as its power network buckles under demand, and STEG has asked consumers to cut back on usage, according to pv magazine.

STEG has posted a technical guide on its website, according to pv magazine. The document spells out the requirements and minimum specifications covering design, installation, operation, and maintenance for photovoltaic systems fitted with batteries and hybrid inverters.

Sadok Besbes, president of the Renewable Energy Professional Group at CONECT, pressed the government to bring in financial incentives for households putting money into these technologies, according to ESS News. He specifically proposed cutting customs duties on solar modules and batteries used in photovoltaic installations.

The measure lets approved customers use stored solar power during outages, working within the specifications STEG published.