IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/arx/papers/1907.09855.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Prosumage of solar electricity: tariff design, capacity investments, and power system effects

Author

Listed:
  • Claudia Gunther
  • Wolf-Peter Schill
  • Alexander Zerrahn

Abstract

We analyze how tariff design incentivizes households to invest in residential photovoltaic and battery systems, and explore selected power sector effects. To this end, we apply an open-source power system model featuring prosumage agents to German 2030 scenarios. Results show that lower feed-in tariffs substantially reduce investments in photovoltaics, yet optimal battery sizing and self-generation are relatively robust. With increasing fixed parts of retail tariffs, optimal battery capacities and self-generation are smaller, and households contribute more to non-energy power sector costs. When choosing tariff designs, policy makers should not aim to (dis-)incentivize prosumage as such, but balance effects on renewable capacity expansion and system cost contribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudia Gunther & Wolf-Peter Schill & Alexander Zerrahn, 2019. "Prosumage of solar electricity: tariff design, capacity investments, and power system effects," Papers 1907.09855, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:1907.09855
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1907.09855
    File Function: Latest version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. O. Schmidt & A. Hawkes & A. Gambhir & I. Staffell, 2017. "The future cost of electrical energy storage based on experience rates," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 2(8), pages 1-8, August.
    2. Bertsch, Valentin & Geldermann, Jutta & Lühn, Tobias, 2017. "What drives the profitability of household PV investments, self-consumption and self-sufficiency?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 1-15.
    3. Wolf-Peter Schill, Alexander Zerrahn, and Friedrich Kunz, 2017. "Prosumage of solar electricity: pros, cons, and the system perspective," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    4. Luthander, Rasmus & Widén, Joakim & Nilsson, Daniel & Palm, Jenny, 2015. "Photovoltaic self-consumption in buildings: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 80-94.
    5. Wiese, Frauke & Schlecht, Ingmar & Bunke, Wolf-Dieter & Gerbaulet, Clemens & Hirth, Lion & Jahn, Martin & Kunz, Friedrich & Lorenz, Casimir & Mühlenpfordt, Jonathan & Reimann, Juliane & Schill, Wolf-P, 2019. "Open Power System Data – Frictionless data for electricity system modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 401-409.
    6. Solano, J.C. & Brito, M.C. & Caamaño-Martín, E., 2018. "Impact of fixed charges on the viability of self-consumption photovoltaics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 322-331.
    7. Christian Von Hirschhausen, 2017. "Prosumage and the future regulation of utilities: An introduction," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    8. Hoppmann, Joern & Volland, Jonas & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2014. "The economic viability of battery storage for residential solar photovoltaic systems – A review and a simulation model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1101-1118.
    9. Andreas Schröder & Friedrich Kunz & Jan Meiss & Roman Mendelevitch & Christian von Hirschhausen, 2013. "Current and Prospective Costs of Electricity Generation until 2050," Data Documentation 68, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    10. Laws, Nicholas D. & Epps, Brenden P. & Peterson, Steven O. & Laser, Mark S. & Wanjiru, G. Kamau, 2017. "On the utility death spiral and the impact of utility rate structures on the adoption of residential solar photovoltaics and energy storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 627-641.
    11. Moshövel, Janina & Kairies, Kai-Philipp & Magnor, Dirk & Leuthold, Matthias & Bost, Mark & Gährs, Swantje & Szczechowicz, Eva & Cramer, Moritz & Sauer, Dirk Uwe, 2015. "Analysis of the maximal possible grid relief from PV-peak-power impacts by using storage systems for increased self-consumption," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 567-575.
    12. Eid, Cherrelle & Reneses Guillén, Javier & Frías Marín, Pablo & Hakvoort, Rudi, 2014. "The economic effect of electricity net-metering with solar PV: Consequences for network cost recovery, cross subsidies and policy objectives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 244-254.
    13. Kubli, Merla, 2018. "Squaring the sunny circle? On balancing distributive justice of power grid costs and incentives for solar prosumers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 173-188.
    14. Gautier, Axel & Hoet, Brieuc & Jacqmin, Julien & Van Driessche, Sarah, 2019. "Self-consumption choice of residential PV owners under net-metering," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 648-653.
    15. Pfenninger, Stefan & Staffell, Iain, 2016. "Long-term patterns of European PV output using 30 years of validated hourly reanalysis and satellite data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1251-1265.
    16. Jessica Thomsen & Christoph Weber, "undated". "How the design of retail prices, network charges, and levies affects profitability and operation of small-scale PV-Battery Storage Systems," EWL Working Papers 1903, University of Duisburg-Essen, Chair for Management Science and Energy Economics.
    17. Khalilpour, Rajab & Vassallo, Anthony, 2015. "Leaving the grid: An ambition or a real choice?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 207-221.
    18. Zerrahn, Alexander & Schill, Wolf-Peter, 2017. "Long-run power storage requirements for high shares of renewables: review and a new model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1518-1534.
    19. Ossenbrink, Jan, 2017. "How feed-in remuneration design shapes residential PV prosumer paradigms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 239-255.
    20. Neetzow, Paul & Mendelevitch, Roman & Siddiqui, Sauleh, 2019. "Modeling coordination between renewables and grid: Policies to mitigate distribution grid constraints using residential PV-battery systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1017-1033.
    21. Scott Agnew & Paul Dargusch, 2015. "Effect of residential solar and storage on centralized electricity supply systems," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 315-318, April.
    22. Yu, Hyun Jin Julie, 2018. "A prospective economic assessment of residential PV self-consumption with batteries and its systemic effects: The French case in 2030," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 673-687.
    23. Hinz, Fabian & Schmidt, Matthew & Möst, Dominik, 2018. "Regional distribution effects of different electricity network tariff designs with a distributed generation structure: The case of Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 97-111.
    24. Tervo, Eric & Agbim, Kenechi & DeAngelis, Freddy & Hernandez, Jeffrey & Kim, Hye Kyung & Odukomaiya, Adewale, 2018. "An economic analysis of residential photovoltaic systems with lithium ion battery storage in the United States," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1057-1066.
    25. Roulot, Jonathan & Raineri, Ricardo, 2018. "The impacts of photovoltaic electricity self-consumption on value transfers between private and public stakeholders in France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 459-473.
    26. Dietrich, Andreas & Weber, Christoph, 2018. "What drives profitability of grid-connected residential PV storage systems? A closer look with focus on Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 399-416.
    27. Hughes, Larry & Bell, Jeff, 2006. "Compensating customer-generators: a taxonomy describing methods of compensating customer-generators for electricity supplied to the grid," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(13), pages 1532-1539, September.
    28. Paul Neetzow & Roman Mendelevitch & Sauleh Siddiqui, 2018. "Modeling Coordination between Renewables and Grid: Policies to Mitigate Distribution Grid Constraints Using Residential PV-Battery Systems," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1766, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    29. Vilaça Gomes, P. & Knak Neto, N. & Carvalho, L. & Sumaili, J. & Saraiva, J.T. & Dias, B.H. & Miranda, V. & Souza, S.M., 2018. "Technical-economic analysis for the integration of PV systems in Brazil considering policy and regulatory issues," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 199-206.
    30. Darghouth, Naïm R. & Wiser, Ryan H. & Barbose, Galen & Mills, Andrew D., 2016. "Net metering and market feedback loops: Exploring the impact of retail rate design on distributed PV deployment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 713-722.
    31. Kaschub, Thomas & Jochem, Patrick & Fichtner, Wolf, 2016. "Solar energy storage in German households: profitability, load changes and flexibility," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 520-532.
    32. Staffell, Iain & Pfenninger, Stefan, 2016. "Using bias-corrected reanalysis to simulate current and future wind power output," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1224-1239.
    33. López Prol, Javier & Steininger, Karl W., 2017. "Photovoltaic self-consumption regulation in Spain: Profitability analysis and alternative regulation schemes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 742-754.
    34. Say, Kelvin & John, Michele & Dargaville, Roger & Wills, Raymond T., 2018. "The coming disruption: The movement towards the customer renewable energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 737-748.
    35. Simshauser, Paul, 2016. "Distribution network prices and solar PV: Resolving rate instability and wealth transfers through demand tariffs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 108-122.
    36. Young, Sharon & Bruce, Anna & MacGill, Iain, 2019. "Potential impacts of residential PV and battery storage on Australia's electricity networks under different tariffs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 616-627.
    37. Schittekatte, Tim & Momber, Ilan & Meeus, Leonardo, 2018. "Future-proof tariff design: Recovering sunk grid costs in a world where consumers are pushing back," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 484-498.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Say, Kelvin & Schill, Wolf-Peter & John, Michele, 2020. "Degrees of displacement: The impact of household PV battery prosumage on utility generation and storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    2. Gautier, Axel & Jacqmin, Julien & Poudou, Jean-Christophe, 2021. "Optimal grid tariffs with heterogeneous prosumers," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    3. Manuel de Villena, Miguel & Jacqmin, Julien & Fonteneau, Raphael & Gautier, Axel & Ernst, Damien, 2021. "Network tariffs and the integration of prosumers: The case of Wallonia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Günther, Claudia & Schill, Wolf-Peter & Zerrahn, Alexander, 2021. "Prosumage of solar electricity: Tariff design, capacity investments, and power sector effects," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 152.
    2. Neetzow, Paul & Mendelevitch, Roman & Siddiqui, Sauleh, 2019. "Modeling coordination between renewables and grid: Policies to mitigate distribution grid constraints using residential PV-battery systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1017-1033.
    3. Aniello, Gianmarco & Bertsch, Valentin, 2023. "Shaping the energy transition in the residential sector: Regulatory incentives for aligning household and system perspectives," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    4. Paul Neetzow & Roman Mendelevitch & Sauleh Siddiqui, 2018. "Modeling Coordination between Renewables and Grid: Policies to Mitigate Distribution Grid Constraints Using Residential PV-Battery Systems," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1766, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. O'Shaughnessy, Eric & Cutler, Dylan & Ardani, Kristen & Margolis, Robert, 2018. "Solar plus: A review of the end-user economics of solar PV integration with storage and load control in residential buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 2165-2175.
    6. Andreolli, Francesca & D’Alpaos, Chiara & Moretto, Michele, 2022. "Valuing investments in domestic PV-Battery Systems under uncertainty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    7. Aniello, Gianmarco & Shamon, Hawal & Kuckshinrichs, Wilhelm, 2021. "Micro-economic assessment of residential PV and battery systems: The underrated role of financial and fiscal aspects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    8. Han, Xuejiao & Garrison, Jared & Hug, Gabriela, 2022. "Techno-economic analysis of PV-battery systems in Switzerland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    9. Seyedfarzad Sarfarazi & Marc Deissenroth-Uhrig & Valentin Bertsch, 2020. "Aggregation of Households in Community Energy Systems: An Analysis from Actors’ and Market Perspectives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-37, October.
    10. Manuel de Villena, Miguel & Jacqmin, Julien & Fonteneau, Raphael & Gautier, Axel & Ernst, Damien, 2021. "Network tariffs and the integration of prosumers: The case of Wallonia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    11. Say, Kelvin & John, Michele, 2021. "Molehills into mountains: Transitional pressures from household PV-battery adoption under flat retail and feed-in tariffs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    12. Gautier, Axel & Jacqmin, Julien & Poudou, Jean-Christophe, 2021. "Optimal grid tariffs with heterogeneous prosumers," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    13. Say, Kelvin & John, Michele & Dargaville, Roger, 2019. "Power to the people: Evolutionary market pressures from residential PV battery investments in Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    14. Hoarau, Quentin & Perez, Yannick, 2019. "Network tariff design with prosumers and electromobility: Who wins, who loses?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 26-39.
    15. Clastres, Cédric & Percebois, Jacques & Rebenaque, Olivier & Solier, Boris, 2019. "Cross subsidies across electricity network users from renewable self-consumption," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-1.
    16. Avau, Michiel & Govaerts, Niels & Delarue, Erik, 2021. "Impact of distribution tariffs on prosumer demand response," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    17. Say, Kelvin & Schill, Wolf-Peter & John, Michele, 2020. "Degrees of displacement: The impact of household PV battery prosumage on utility generation and storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    18. von Appen, J. & Braun, M., 2018. "Strategic decision making of distribution network operators and investors in residential photovoltaic battery storage systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 540-550.
    19. Schopfer, S. & Tiefenbeck, V. & Staake, T., 2018. "Economic assessment of photovoltaic battery systems based on household load profiles," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 229-248.
    20. Gallego-Castillo, Cristobal & Heleno, Miguel & Victoria, Marta, 2021. "Self-consumption for energy communities in Spain: A regional analysis under the new legal framework," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:arx:papers:1907.09855. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: arXiv administrators (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://arxiv.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.