Berkeley Lab Study Finds that Future Deployment of Distributed Solar Hinges on Electricity Rate… [View all]

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Last edited Thu Jul 9, 2015, 10:46 AM - Edit history (1)

https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2015/07/09/berkeley-lab-study-finds-that-future-deployment-of-distributed-solar-hinges-on-electricity-rate-design/

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Berkeley Lab Study Finds that Future Deployment of Distributed Solar Hinges on Electricity Rate Design[/font]

News Release Dan Krotz 510-486-4019 • July 9, 2015

[font size=3]Berkeley, CA – Future distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment levels are highly sensitive to retail electricity rate design, according to a newly released report by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The study also explores the feedback effects between retail electricity rates and PV deployment, and suggests that increased solar deployment can lead to changes in PV compensation levels that either accelerate or dampen further deployment.

“We find that retail rate design can have a dramatic impact on PV deployment levels,” says report author Naïm Darghouth, a researcher in Berkeley Lab’s Energy Technologies Area. “For example, rate design changes currently being considered by a number of utilities, and modeled in our study, can dramatically erode aggregate customer adoption of PV (from -14% to -61%, depending on the design).”

The report, which uses a solar deployment model originally developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, also examines PV deployment levels under broad adoption of time-of-use rates, purely volumetric rates, feed-in tariffs, and avoided cost-based rates. Most of these scenarios lead to deployment levels lower than under a continuation of net metering and current rate designs.

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A webinar presentation of key findings from the report will be held today, July 9, at 11 am Pacific Time (2 pm Eastern Time). To receive log-in instructions for the webinar, register at https://goo.gl/uuLVWa .

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http://emp.lbl.gov/reports/re