Analysis of the Incentives for Small Scale Photovoltaic Electricity Production in Portugal
Abstract
The Portuguese decree-law no 363/2007 from 2 of November implements new incentives for small scale production of electricity covering several types of electricity production systems: wind, hydro, fuel cells (solar thermal), Biomass (combined electricity and heat production cycle) and solar photovoltaic (PV). For electricity producers using photovoltaic systems, two remuneration schemes are available: Geral or Bonificado. The word Geral translates to "General" while Bonificado translates to "with bonus" or subsidized. This paper establishes a comparison between both types of schemes for a PV installation in Lisbon, under different scenarios. The output of the installation was modeled using WINSUN, a simulating tool developed at LTH (Lund Technical University, Sweden) derived from TRNSED/TRNSYS. Different scenarios were drafted and compared. The payback time and the overall return on investment (RoI) of the installation are influenced by several factors such as equipment costs, installation costs, panel efficiency, overall photovoltaic installed capacity in Portugal or future electricity prices. These factors are also analyzed here. Lastly, a suggestion was drafted for a more efficient use of this incentive scheme in PV applications.