FAQ

The provision relating to the super-reduced rate reduces the scope of application to the level of the type of building that will be equipped with solar panels, namely “on private housing, housing and building, public and others, used for activities of general interest, and in close proximity to these”.

As far as “private housing” is concerned, this is housing of which at least three quarters of the total surface area is reserved for living purposes. The same rule applies to housing and public buildings and others used for activities of general interest: at least three quarters of the total surface area must be reserved for these purposes.

A definition of this is provided in the grand-ducal regulation of 23 December 2022 amending: 1° the grand-ducal regulation amended on 21 December 1991 determining the limits and application conditions of the reduced, super-reduced and intermediate rates of value added tax; 2° […], and the following explication is provided by bulletin No 816 issued by the Registration Duties, Estates and VAT Authority: “private housing and buildings used by public authorities not subject to tax for activities carried out as such or used by those subject to tax for activities of general interest exempt from VAT without the right to deduct input tax (notably hospitals, schools, children’s nurseries, youth hostels and retirement homes)”. The provision of cultural services is added to the latest list.

The delivery and installation of photovoltaic solar panels close to housing or buildings referred to above does not interfere with the application for the super-reduced VAT rate of 3 % as long as the delivery and installation takes place on adjoining or separate properties but located close to private housing or housing and buildings, public and others, used for activities of general interest and as long as such photovoltaic solar panels are connected to the thermal and/or electrical network of the housing or buildings in question.

The grand-ducal regulation of 23 December 2022 amending: 1° the grand-ducal regulation amended on 21 December 1991 determining the limits and application conditions of the reduced, super-reduced and intermediate rates of value added tax; 2° […] defines in the context of the reduction of the VAT rate the “delivery and installation of solar panels” as follows: “work on a property consisting of the delivery of solar panels and their installation”.

As a result, all the parts necessary for this installation and its operation also come under the super-reduced rate, which implies the following parts of the photovoltaic solar panels: photovoltaic panels (or hybrid solar collectors), fixing rails, DC and AC electric cabling connected directly to the photovoltaic installation, inverter, electrical protection devices, bidirectional meter; and for the thermal solar panels: thermal solar collectors, fixing rails, insulated pipework, solar storage reservoir, calorimeter, peripheral equipment (power feed, regulation, heat exchangers); as well as, of course, the costs of installation.

For the photovoltaic solar panels, a storage installation (battery) is therefore not involved.

It is also important to note that the super-reduced rate only applies to such installation work on a solar power plant. Bulletin No 816 issued by the Registration Duties, Estates and VAT Authority defines this notion of “work on a property” as follows: “Therefore, there is reason for understanding this new provision not as the delivery of solar panels or the installation of such panels carried out separately, but as work on a property that consists of a delivery of solar panels with installation”.

Applications for obtaining financial aid must be submitted no later than 12 months after the last invoice was issued in connection with the investment.

If you have any questions about your new smart meter, please contact your network operator:

• Town of Ettelbruck (electricity): 81 91 81-1
• Town of Diekirch (electricity): 80 87 80-501
• Electris (electricity): 8002 – 8032
• Creos (electricity/natural gas): 2624 – 2624
• Sudstroum (electricity): 26 783 787 686
• Sudgaz (natural gas): 55 66 55 – 1

• City of Dudelange (natural gas): 51 51 25

The electricity meter registers only one index value every quarter of an hour and the natural gas meter only one index value every hour. The granularity (quarter-hourly or hourly) of the customer's overall consumption data does not make it possible to identify the customer's individual devices or consumer behaviour.

The Luxmetering database does not host customer data. All data is securely hosted in highly secure data centres on servers belonging to Luxmetering and the network operators and suppliers. The data never leaves the country. Between the meter and the supplier, the data transfer is systematically encrypted. The Internet is never used throughout the communication chain.

The network operators attach particular importance to the security of smart metering. In order to guarantee the secure transmission of consumption data to the central system managed by network operators, the data is transmitted in encrypted form. The algorithms used for this encryption meet the highest standards currently available in terms of IT security.

A real-time meter value (index or Zählerstand) is sent to the central system (at a quarter-hourly rate for the electricity meter and at an hourly rate for the gas meter), where it is recorded and saved for a maximum of fifteen years. Events concerning the quality of supply, such as absence of voltage, overvoltage or technical faults in the meter, are transmitted to the central system and used by Luxmetering and the network operators for operational purposes.

Energy consumption data is collected several times a day via the central system managed by Luxmetering GIE. Metering data is transmitted daily to the customer's supplier. The network operator in question, the customer's electricity or natural gas supplier and, where applicable, a service provider designated by the consumer will have access to the customer's data. The legal framework clearly defines the authorised processing purposes and ensures that data cannot be transferred to third parties without the consumer’s prior consent.

The National Commission for Data Protection (Commission nationale pour la protection des données – CNPD) has supported network operators in preparing for the widespread deployment of smart metering in Luxembourg. The processing of personal data by network operators has been the subject of prior notification to the CNPD.