Resident of Anenii Noi cuts energy costs to zero with 20 solar panels
Homes in the Republic of Moldova can become valuable sources of renewable energy. With government support, households can install photovoltaic panels. These panels can lead to significant savings during the winter months, and in the summer, any excess energy produced from the sun can be sold back to the grid.
Igor Hîncu from Floreni commune, Anenii Noi district, is one of the beneficiaries of the “Green House” program. He has escaped the worry of bills and plans to sell electricity to the grid. 20 photovoltaic panels have been installed on his house.
“The idea of the system is that it is modular and we can add a panel or two at any time, there is still room. From what I understand, we can install up to 15 kW, which would mean about six panels. At least during the summer we will receive money from the energy operator. Until now we were consumers. Now we have become prosumers and we produce electricity that we feed into the grid,” said Igor Hîncu, a beneficiary of the program.
The average purchase price of the energy delivered by prosumers is established by the supplier, and the monetary equivalent can be transferred to the beneficiary’s bank account once a year. Igor Hîncu will also use electricity to heat the 200-square-meter home.
"It’s a boiler that heats 100 liters of water, which is then pumped into the household water network and distributed to the radiators. We have a thermostat that automatically stops the heating when a certain temperature is reached. Annually, we burned 10,000 cubic meters of wood and 10,000 cubic meters of gas. If we don't pay over 5,000 lei for gas, we primarily used wood, but that comes with its own challenges," he explains.
Igor Hîncu is the beneficiary of the first edition of the "Green House" program, launched in 2025. The installation of the heat pump and photovoltaic panels involved investments of 430 thousand lei. 200,000 lei were covered by the state grant. Last year, the owners of over 700 homes applied to the program and currently, most of the applications are at the examination stage.
"Currently, we have over 140 financing contracts to sign, the beneficiaries are in the implementation process. This year, we have a larger budget, we estimate to have two project proposals. We plan over a thousand potential beneficiaries to apply and benefit from financial support," said Lucia Arseni, deputy director of the National Center for Sustainable Energy (CNED).
The second call for applications for the "Green House" program is expected to be launched at the end of this month. Those interested are encouraged to submit applications online, accessing the feerm.md platform. Families with minor children in particular can benefit from support.
The program is part of the Energy Efficiency Fund in the Residential Sector of the Republic of Moldova, financed from the state budget and supported by the European Union.
