Blog
Solar energy blog
Analysis, context and practical advice on solar energy in Colombia, held to the same standard of transparency as the rest of the site.
In short
The NodoSolar blog analyses the solar energy market in Colombia with data and sources: how costs are evolving, regulatory changes (CREG, UPME), tax incentives and sector trends. Every article shows its publication date and is corrected when the regulation changes.
Solar Energy for Shopping Centres and Large Retail Stores in Colombia: Load Profile, Meters and Tenants
A shopping centre opens seven days a week and barely exports: with 1.25 kWp per kW of daytime load, solar covers 26% to 32% of its common-area consumption. The hard part is not the profile but which meter the plant connects to and how the energy reaches the tenants.
Read BusinessSolar Energy for Manufacturing Plants and Factories in Colombia: How to Size It Against the Load Profile
With the same ratio of kWp per kW of load, solar covers between 18% and 41% of a plant's consumption depending on its shifts. How to read a factory's load profile, size against it, and avoid discovering the power factor or switchboard voltage too late.
Read BusinessHow Much Roof Area Does Your Company Need for Solar Panels? A Sizing Guide
A kWp of modules takes between 4.3 and 4.6 m², but on the flat roof of an industrial building each kWp consumes quite a lot more. How to go from consumption and load profile to the square metres you actually need, and what to do if they do not fit.
Read BusinessSelling Solar Surplus as a Company: How Exported Energy Is Paid and What It Is Worth in Colombia
A kWh the plant sends to the grid is almost never worth the same as a kWh the company stops buying. How surplus is paid under each regulatory category, and why that decides the size of the plant.
Read BusinessSelf-Generation or Distributed Generation: Which Regulatory Category Fits Your Company's Solar Project
The plant's size, whether it exports surplus and where the energy is consumed decide the project's regulatory category, and with it the connection procedure, how surplus is paid and who may carry it out.
Read BusinessHow to Choose a Solar Provider for Your Company: The Industrial Buyer's Checklist
Contracting a solar plant for a company means contracting a regulated electrical installation. Almost everything that sets a good provider apart can be checked with documents and public registries before signing.
Read BusinessHow to Read Your Company's Electricity Bill and Tell Whether Solar Makes Sense
A company's bill is not a bigger version of a household's: voltage level, the solidarity levy and reactive energy change what every kWh that solar stops buying is worth.
Read BusinessTax Benefits of Solar Energy for Companies: From the UPME Certificate to the Tax Return
The Ley 1715 incentives exist for almost any company, but none of them pays out on its own: every one goes through a UPME certificate, and mistakes are paid for in cash, not on paper.
Read BusinessBuy, Lease or PPA: How to Pay for Your Company's Solar Project
The equipment is the same; what changes is who owns the asset. And that determines the Ley 1715 incentives, how the project enters the balance sheet and what happens fifteen years from now.
Read PracticalSolar Panels in Condominiums: How the Decision Is Made
A building's roof is common property and the investment is approved in assembly. Ley 675 de 2001 sets the majority required, and the answer depends on how the system is paid for.
Read BusinessSolar Energy for Agribusiness in Colombia
Irrigation, pumping and cold chain consume exactly when the sun produces. On a farm, high irradiation, ample roofs and daytime load line up like in few other sectors.
Read TariffsEstrato and solar savings: why your neighbour saves more than you with the same panels
Two identical houses with the same system can save very different amounts. The difference is not in the panels: it is in what each one pays per kilowatt-hour.
Read FinancingCan you pay for solar panels with what you save on the bill?
'The instalment pays for itself' is the sector's most repeated sales line. Sometimes it is true. This is the calculation that tells you whether it is true in your case.
Read BusinessWhy a business recovers its solar investment sooner than a home
The same technology, two different financial cases. In a Colombian company four factors line up that in a home rarely occur together.
Read TariffsWhy does your neighbour pay less for electricity than you?
Same block, similar houses, bills that look nothing alike. There is almost always a concrete explanation, and it is written on the bill itself.
Read InstallationDo solar panels damage your roof? The answer depends on something almost nobody checks
The roof is the only component of the system that was already there and that nobody chose. It is also the one that decides whether, ten years from now, you have an installation or an argument.
Read PaybackHow long until it pays for itself? Why that figure says less than it seems
Almost every quote comes with a payback period. Almost none comes with the four assumptions that produced it, and without them two figures are not comparable.
Read SavingsSelf-consumption and exports: why two identical homes do not save the same
Two homes with the same system and the same bill can save different amounts. The difference is not in the panels: it is in the clock.
Read OutlookSolar energy in Colombia: the outlook in 2026
Falling costs, incentives still in force and a settled net metering framework make 2026 a good moment to assess solar energy in Colombia.
Read PracticalHow to tell whether your home is a good fit for solar energy
Not every roof is equally good for panels. These are the factors that determine whether your house will make good use of a solar installation.
Read MythsCommon myths about solar energy in Colombia
A lot of mistaken ideas circulate about solar energy. We go through the most common ones in Colombia and what the reality is.
ReadHow we write
Our editorial line
In a sector with plenty of promises and few verifiable numbers, these are the rules we hold ourselves to before publishing.
Every figure carries its source
Regulatory and market data are cited with the regulation or body behind them — CREG, UPME, Ley 1715 de 2014, Ley 2099 de 2021 — and not with a generic claim. If a figure cannot be backed up, it is not published.
Articles carry a visible date
The sector changes: a new resolution can make a correct article obsolete. That is why every piece shows its publication and last review date, and is corrected when the regulation changes rather than left to age.
No content is disguised advertising
We do not recommend module brands or specific installers inside the articles, and we do not accept payment for editorial mentions. When something has a downside, we say so.
Facts are kept distinct from estimates
A value taken from a regulation and an in-house estimate are not presented the same way. Ranges are declared as ranges, with the assumptions on show, so you can judge whether they apply to your case.
Beyond the blog
Where the rest of the content lives
The blog covers the landscape and current developments. The operational and comparative material lives in other sections.
Practical guides
Operational step-by-steps: how many panels you need, how to read your bill, how to compare quotes or how to legalize the system with the grid operator.
ExploreComparisons
Decisions weighed up with judgement: monocrystalline versus polycrystalline, with batteries or without, microinverters versus a central inverter.
ExploreGlossary
The terms that appear in any quote — kWp, AGPE, net metering, PSH, degradation — defined in a sentence and with their Colombian context.
ExploreReference prices
Investment ranges by system size, with the methodology and observation date declared, so you can tell whether a proposal is in line with the market.
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