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The way forward clearly orients us towards the decarbonisation of energy systems. Sustainable energy systems ensure fewer burdens on the environment and consequently provide success when fighting climate change. Energy policy provides support in addressing the present energy challenges. Municipal policy has often been neglected, with greater emphasis being concentrated at the centralised level. In addition, another identified problem has been the insufficient quality of the municipal policy performance with lack of acknowledging various features within the municipality. Therefore, the presented paper focuses on the constitution of municipal energy policies that include all aspects of municipalities' energy systems and lead towards less environmentally burdened energy systems. The main objective is to enhance sustainable development within municipalities through constitution and integration of suitable municipal energy policies. The proposed paper presents an entirely inclusive process for a municipal energy policy's institutional, implementation and evaluation phases. Municipal energy policy has to enable maximum efficiency of energy systems by implementing customised targets and measures. This novel methodology for integrated municipal energy policy constitution and integration has, in fact, been applied within the Podlehnik municipality, representing one of the small municipalities in Slovenia. This work proposes an important step towards formalising a municipal energy policy constitution and integration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Energy for society is an important element globally. Policy discussions in relation to climate change, suggest a transition from fossil-carbon-based systems to those based primarily upon renewable sources. The authors of this paper focused on a technical approach that can help to make that transition, namely pilot photovoltaic net metering installation for a business-residential entity in Slovenia, including its environmental perspectives. Results of the pilot photovoltaic net metering system installation revealed that the most cost effective solution is a photovoltaic installation with peak power of 6 kW, producing excess energy during the daytime. This has demonstrated that, with a proper planning, an optimum balance between energy production and consumption can be reached, and achieving a minimum price per kWh of the system. Regarding the environmental performance of the system, the results indicated that the most significant environmental impacts during its life cycle are related to global warming followed by human toxicity and terrestrial eco-toxicity. Photovoltaic net metering represents an option for producing and consuming cleaner energy, compared to conventional generation and usage, lowering the total price of the electrical energy (including fees and taxes) in comparison with the market purchases. This case study suggested that employing photovoltaic net metering in Slovenia is a reasonable option from the financial and environmental points of view, especially in the event of future increases of electricity price. Highlights • A new technical solution for PV net metering and its environmental performance. • PV net metering is an option of cleaner energy production and consumption. • Developed solution could be further utilized by the smart communities and cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]