Evolution of photovoltaic business models: Overcoming the main barriers of distributed energy deployment

Horváth, Dóra; Szabó, Roland Z.

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2018.03.101

Cited by 112 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…The photovoltaic systems deployment can have very limited impacts, identifying the most suitable places through clear methodologies [21] and promoting the installation on already built areas [22,23], or in any case not suitable for other uses. Furthermore, TPO (third party ownership) or community-shared (CS) business models are spreading, transforming rooftop solar systems into a simple service [24][25][26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Climate Change Affects the Building Energy Consumptions Due to Cooling, Heating, and Electricity Demands of Italian Residential Sector

Mancini

Basso

2020

Energies

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Climate change affects the buildings’ performance, significantly influencing energy consumption, as well as the indoor thermal comfort. As a consequence, the growing outdoor environmental temperatures entail a slight reduction in heating consumption and an increase in cooling consumption, with different overall effects depending on the latitudes. This document focuses attention on the Italian residential sector, considering the current and reduced meteorological data, in anticipation of future climate scenarios. According to a sample of 419 buildings, referring to the climatic conditions of Milan, Florence, Rome, and Naples, the heating and cooling needs are calculated by a simplified dynamic model, in current and future conditions. The effects of the simplest climate adaptation measure, represented by the introduction of new air conditioners, have been also evaluated. The simulations results show an important reduction in complex energy consumption (Milan −6%, Florence −22%, Rome −25%, Naples −30%), due to the greater incidence of heating demand in the Italian context. However, the increase in air conditioning electrical consumption over the hot season (Milan +11%, Florence +20%, Rome +19%, Naples +16%) can play a critical role for the electrical system; for that reason, the introduction of photovoltaic arrays as a compensatory measure have been analysed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Climate Change Affects the Building Energy Consumptions Due to Cooling, Heating, and Electricity Demands of Italian Residential Sector

Mancini

Basso

2020

Energies

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“…Here, the LCOE and RE share are analyzed. Third, in the case of the distributed generation scenario, the sensitivity analysis considers an increase of 20% in investment prices of the PV generator, taking into account the lower profitability of small domestic projects [129,130], as well as a sensitivity analysis with a decrease of 20%. Based on the results of the scenarios analyzed in the simulation and optimization processes, sensitivity analyses are applied to the following: (i) The "Status quo 2018" Scenario with the current demand; (ii) the Renewable Energy Potential: Boundary Conditions Scenario, configuration: PV + wind + batteries + diesel; (iii) the Energy Efficiency: Boundary Conditions Scenario, configuration: PV + wind + batteries + diesel; (iv) The Distributed Energy Scenarios.…”

Section: Sensitivity Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to reference [136], social acceptance can be improved by innovative business models to build trust between the market and users. Moreover, financing facilities that fit island conditions could support distributed generation [126,129]. However, beyond that, distributed generation faces other challenges, such as the electricity exchange assurance between users and the electrical grid.…”

Section: Sensitivity Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding distributed generation, Horváth and Szabó [129] claimed that the bottlenecks of this mechanism are financial issues and low electricity tariffs, which means longer payback periods and liquidity risk for RE technologies. Therefore, to attract distributed generation investment, the government is expected to define adequate (higher) purchase prices and incentives.…”

Section: Business Model Proposal For Re Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The community-shared model (also known as shared solar, community solar or community-owned) is a good opportunity for innovation and to increase the competitiveness of RE technologies. Its biggest advantage is the economy of scale to bring down the PV system costs [129,143]. This model helps communities to acquire and manage their rooftop PV systems, sharing capital and O&M costs [143,144].…”

Section: Business Model Proposal For Re Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Decarbonizing the Galapagos Islands: Techno-Economic Perspectives for the Hybrid Renewable Mini-Grid Baltra–Santa Cruz

et al. 2020

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The fragile ecosystem of the Galapagos Islands is being affected by population growth, intensive tourism, the exploitation of local resources and the high consumption of imported fossil fuels. This unsustainable development model makes the provision of services such as electricity a challenge. This research investigates the hybrid renewable mini-grid Baltra-Santa Cruz, which represents 62% of the electricity generation mix of the archipelago. This study aims to support the Galapagos Zero Fossil Fuel Initiative and the Sustainable Development Goal 7 through the reduction in diesel consumption and electricity generation costs. To do so, HOMER Pro, a specialized hybrid renewable mini-grid planning tool, is used to perform several techno-economic assessments, focusing on different electricity demand scenarios. Therefore, multiple pathways are compared to identify the most reliable alternatives towards the progressive decarbonization of this hybrid system. The results indicate that installing 18.25 MWp of photovoltaic and 20.68 MWh of battery capacity could reduce the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) from 32.06 to 18.95 USc/kWh, increasing the renewable energy (RE) share from 18% to 39%. Additionally, the successful application of energy efficiency measures would even reduce the LCOE to 17.10 USc/kWh. What is more, distributed energy is considered the most attractive way to involve islanders in the energy transition process. Finally, this paper offers a comprehensive business model proposal to achieve a resilient energy supply, based on a combination of auctions and energy community models, which demands high political will, reliable and innovative regulations and social awareness about energy use.Sustainability 2020, 12, 2282 4 of 47 and implement RE projects. In addition, the Ecuadorian Electricity Master Plan (PME) 2016-2025 [44] contains the list of priority projects to increase renewable electricity generation. Moreover, those possible new partners can propose additional RE initiatives thanks to the General Regulation of the LOSPEE. This regulation [43] is based on the targets of the National Plan of Development 2017Development -2021 which prioritize RE resources exploitation to reduce the dependency of fossil fuels. What is more, new companies interested in developing RE projects can receive an income-tax-exemption for five years [46].As regards distributed generation, the photovoltaic microgeneration to electricity self-sufficiency for final consumers of electricity regulation [47] and its amendment [48] promote the installation of PV systems up to 300 kWp per user in the residential sector and below 1000 kWp per user in the commercial and industrial sectors. This regulation is not limited to rooftop PV systems. A net-metering scheme is applied to compensate electricity costs. Thanks to this mechanism, consumers are billed for their "net" electricity use and the associated costs become credits for the following months if the electricity balance is positive for users. [47]. The National Rate Schedule for ...

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Comparative assessment of the challenges faced by the solar energy industry in Ethiopia before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Gebreslassie

2021

WIREs Energy & Environment

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The COVID‐19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on social, economic, and political situations of all countries around the world with no sight to its end. Business sectors such as solar distributors, which have been instrumental in supporting the governments' ambitious universal electrification programs, have been negatively affected by the pandemic. The main aim of this paper is therefore to explore and conduct a comparative assessment before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic of the key challenges of solar‐based businesses in Ethiopia focusing on the distributors and installers and to provide policy recommendations. Qualitative and quantitative assessments were employed during this study. The results show that before the pandemic, finding a skilled workforce, gaining a technical knowledge of the technology, competing in the market, and lack of consumer awareness and initial investment were the key challenges. The importation of solar technologies has been halted by the arrival of the COVID‐19 exacerbating existing challenges and threatening the very existence of the businesses. The impact of the pandemic on income levels of end‐users of solar technologies, together with the lack of sufficient supply of technologies to the businesses, most of the businesses are forced to lay off their employees deepening the unemployment rate and, in some cases, forcing businesses to be closed. These circumstances affect economic development and dents the progress made so far in facilitating energy access to remote communities. To protect these vulnerable but very essential small businesses, necessary interventions are recommended. This article is categorized under: Photovoltaics > Economics and Policy

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Evolution of photovoltaic business models: Overcoming the main barriers of distributed energy deployment

Cited by 112 publications

References 55 publications

How Climate Change Affects the Building Energy Consumptions Due to Cooling, Heating, and Electricity Demands of Italian Residential Sector

How Climate Change Affects the Building Energy Consumptions Due to Cooling, Heating, and Electricity Demands of Italian Residential Sector

Decarbonizing the Galapagos Islands: Techno-Economic Perspectives for the Hybrid Renewable Mini-Grid Baltra–Santa Cruz

Comparative assessment of the challenges faced by the solar energy industry in Ethiopia before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic

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