Spain

The role of the government:

• The solar panels cost has been reduced. For that reason, the electric consumption has increased since a lot of people are using solar panels as the main source for heating their homes and their pipe water.
• Barcelona is trying to double the number of solar panels in the city. This action will reduce the usage of fossil fuels in order to produce energy and will increase the usage of renewable sources, which is the goal of the city council.

• A Swiss research points out that generate solar energy in high places, for example in mountains which are snowed, can produce enough energy for the winter season. This is due to the reflection of the sunlight in the snow and then on the solar panels.

• Change the traditional bulbs:

Halogen lights use 10 times more electricity than low energy bulbs or leds. Leds or low energy bulbs are more expensive but they can "live" longer (between 8.000 and 10.000 hours).

• Unplug all you can:

Turn off and unplug all your electronic devices when you are not using them. For example, your computer or the tv. If you leave it plugged, it is consuming energy but you don't realize about it.

• Take short showers:

Maybe it is very relaxing to take a long warm shower. But it is not convinient to take more than 7 minutes shower because it can consume a lot of energy. It's not a problem if you do it with PVT panels, which turns cold water into warm water using the power of the sun, although you may also consider that wasting water is also a huge environmental problem.

• Turn off the lights:

Try to go around your house and check if all the lights which you and your family are not using are turned off. Unnecessary lights represent 20% of wasted energy in most households.