What Can PV Self-supply Do for System Integration?
Abstract
PV self-supply has been a key economic driver for increasing PV rooftop installations in Germany during the past years. The main economic advantage for the owners are the lower levelized costs of electricity from PV self-supply systems compared to grid electricity. Based on the European Renewable Energy Directive, PV self-supply systems benefit from wide exemptions from surcharges and network charges. PV self-supply systems are expected to require lower feed-in tariffs as well as to foster system integration by motivating to households and industries to optimize consumption to match PV generation better. However, open questions remain: If PV self-supply systems are optimized for large shares of self-consumption, are potentially available rooftop areas completely exhausted? Does optimization for self-consumption improve grid integration enough to justify exemption from network charges? The first question addresses the climate protection efficiency, the second addresses redistribution effects