Glossary

The households or persons involved in the Sun4All financial scheme and who benefit from reduced energy bills.

The plan detailing how to develop and implement the Sun4All model, with the different financial schemes in each of the pilot cities/regions.

A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common e.g., the participation to the Sun4All scheme.

A group of 10 cities, regions, and/or utilities that commit to develop an adoption roadmap for implementing Sun4All in their territory in the coming years to foster just energy transition and tackle energy poverty.

Energy poverty can be defined as a situation where a household or an individual is unable to afford basic energy services (cooling, lighting, mobility and power) to guarantee a decent standard of living due to a combination of low income, high energy expenditure and low energy efficiency of their homes.

The process of involving the selected households in the Sun4All schemes, for instance through workshops, site visits or the definition of community actions addressed to achieve a behavioural change in energy consumption.

The system or cycle designed by each of the pilot regions to implement the Sun4All model, including the economical and data flow, together with the involved actor and their role in each case.

The Just Transition Mechanism is a key tool to ensure that the transition towards a climate neutral economy happens in a fair way, leaving no one behind. The Just Transition Mechanism addresses the social and economic effects of the transition, focusing on the regions, industries and workers who will face the greatest challenges.

Leaving no one behind in an age of change means fighting poverty. Energy poverty and the difficulty to invest in modern cost saving solutions point to the need to be vigilant on new distributional challenges brought by the transition to a carbon neutral economy. For all these reasons, a wide reflection needs to take place to consider the multiple and interconnected causes of poverty, to reflect on the impact of different policy instruments and to rethink the way forward.

The cities and utilities selected to be part of the Community of Practice. They will be mentored by Sun4All partners to adapt the financial schemes to their local context. The members of the Community of Practice will also be referred as observers or mentees in some cases.

The technical partners of Sun4All project consortium will each mentor two of the members of the Sun4All Community of Practice. They will help them tap into the knowledge and experience of the Sun4All pilots on alleviating the energy poverty at the local level, to plan, adopt and up scale the Sun4All programme locally.

Four European cities and regions (Coeur de Savoie (FR), Barcelona (ES), Rome (IT), and Almada (PT)) are acting as early adopters of the Sun4All financial support scheme for renewable energy access. They are testing the validity of the New York State initiative (utility bill assistance programme) "Solar for All", for the European context.

(a) which, in accordance with the applicable national law, is based on open and voluntary participation, is autonomous, and is effectively controlled by shareholders or members that are located in the proximity of the renewable energy projects that are owned and developed by that legal entity;
(b) the shareholders or members of which are natural persons, SMEs or local authorities, including municipalities;
(c) the primary purpose of which is to provide environmental, economic or social community benefits for its shareholders or members or for the local areas where it operates, rather than financial profits;
Source: DIRECTIVE (EU) 2018/2001 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 December 2018

Vulnerable households either do not have access to energy services or making use of these energy services undermines their possibility to access other basic services. Energy poor households experience inadequate levels of some essential energy services, e.g. lighting, heating/cooling, use of appliances, transport and many others.