Gironde: Solar Plan Innovates to Help Low-Income Households Through Collective Self-Consumption

A pilot project in Taillan-Médoc aims to share photovoltaic electricity produced on public buildings with the most vulnerable residents.

Generic image of solar panels on the roof of a public building, with a blurred background of a town square in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Warm afternoon sunlight, documentary photography style.
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Generic image of solar panels on the roof of a public building, with a blurred background of a town square in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Warm afternoon sunlight, documentary photography style.

The Department of Gironde, through its Solar Plan, is piloting collective self-consumption in Taillan-Médoc to share photovoltaic electricity produced on public buildings with the most modest households, as part of the REC4EU project.

The Department of Gironde, with its Solar Plan, aims to accelerate the development of photovoltaics on its public assets, targeting 42% solar electricity by 2030. Beyond production, the plan seeks to combat energy poverty by enabling low-income households to benefit from reduced-rate local electricity.
This initiative relies on a network cooperation involving the Department, Alec (Local Energy and Climate Agency), and CREAQ, enriched by European exchanges from the REC4EU project led by Alec. Alec handles the techno-economic sizing, while the social dimension is supported by SLIME33, the departmental device for combating energy poverty.
A pilot operation is underway at the collège du Taillan-Médoc, where photovoltaic electricity will be shared with households facing energy poverty. Three households were met in September 2026 to present the project and obtain their agreement.
Participating households will benefit from a portion of this solar production to reduce their bills without changing electricity providers. Energy sharing is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2027. Lessons learned from this project will help develop more accessible and supportive renewable energy communities.
Based on information from the official source: Alec – Agence locale de l'énergie et du climat métropole bordelaise et Gironde (16/10/2026)