Economic Analysis of Rooftop Solar PV Systems in Argentina

PRINGLES, ROLANDO; CORIA, GUSTAVO; PENIZZOTTO, FRANCO

IEEE LATIN AMERICA TRANSACTIONS

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

Año: 2020 vol. 18 p. 32 - 42

1548-0992

This work conducts a profitability analysis of solarphotovoltaic projects connected to the grid in the residentialsector, considering the Net Billing remuneration mechanism, andcomparing it with the Feed-in-Tariff structure that has been usedin other countries. Due to the high investment outlays requiredfor this technology and the interest for increasing its penetration,specific profitability analyses need to be conducted in order tofind the key points that can be used by the government tocontribute to promoting these investments. Three realphotovoltaic projects were taken into account by considering themeasured energy data during a year. In addition, the well-knownNet Present Value method is used as the valuation metric. Resultsshow that investment decisions on renewable distributedgeneration are significantly affected by technology costs, nationalfinancial conditions, and tariffs. The analysis also suggests thattaxes included in the tariff structure under a Net Billingremuneration mechanism might be an important aspect to betaken into account during the investment valuation.Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis over the capital cost and theconsumed and injected energy price suggest that governmentpolicies should design the incentive mechanisms mainly over thecost of capital rather than over the exported energy tariff. In thecase study considered, the investment is still not profitable.