Regional distribution of photovoltaic deployment in the UK and its determinants: A spatial econometric approach

Photovoltaic (PV) panels offer significant potential for contributing to the UK's energy policy goals relating to decarbonisation of the energy system, security of supply and affordability. The substantive drop in the cost of panels since 2007, coupled with the introduction of the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Scheme in 2010, has resulted in a rapid increase in installation of PV panels in the UK, from 26.5MWp in 2009 to over 5GW by the end of 2014. Yet there has been no comprehensive analysis of the determinants of PV deployment in the UK. This paper addresses this gap by employing spatial econometrics methods to a recently available data set at a fine geographical detail. Following a traditional regression analysis, a general to specific approach has been adopted where spatial variations in the relationships have been examined utilising the spatial Durbin model using the cross-sectional data relating to the UK NUTS level 3 data. Empirical results indicate that demand for electricity, population density, pollution levels, education level of households and housing types are among the factors that affect PV uptake in a region. Moreover Lagrange Multiplier test results indicate that the spatial Durbin model may be properly applied to describe the PV uptake relationship in the UK as there are significant regional spillover effects

Spatial variation in energy attitudes and perceptions: Evidence from Europe

Driven by socio-economic processes, the influence of spatial factors on household energy related attitudes and perceptions is largely neglected in the literature. This paper analyses the extent to which energy perceptions and attitudes vary across different geographical contexts in Europe. We use representative Eurobarometer survey data to analyse how social conceptions of important energy issues, Europe's future energy priorities, and future energy system characteristics are shaped by rural, small urban, and large urban contexts. Using binary and ordered probit models, we find that householders in large and small areas are less likely to think of energy as a nationally important issue compared to their rural counterparts. Large city residents are less likely to think that renewables will play a significant role in the future energy system. Residents of large urban areas are more likely than those in rural areas to think that national energy policy should be centred on protecting the environment, guaranteeing a continuous supply of energy, and less around guaranteeing low prices for consumers

Assessment of rooftop solar power generation to meet residential loads in the city of Neom, Saudi Arabia

The economic and social development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has led to a rapid increase in the consumption of electricity, with the residential sector consuming approximately 50% of total electricity production. The KSA depends largely on non-renewable energy resources, and the government has produced Saudi Vision 2030. This plan aims to lessen the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and reduce associated problems such as air pollution. Saudi Vision 2030 combines renewable energy and new building designs so that, for example, the planned city of Neom will be net zero energy. This study addresses how best to reduce Neom’s reliance on the national grid through rooftop photovoltaic generation in residential buildings. The study develops a techno-economic model of rooftop PV with battery storage suitable for existing residential building types likely to be built in Neom city (villas, traditional houses, and apartments), and assesses the optimal PV size, battery storage capacity, and optimal orientation of the PV panels. The study used HOMER Pro to compute the Net Present Cost, Levelized Cost of Energy, orientation of PV panels, and optimum PV system size. The optimal size of PV system is 14.0 kW for the villa, 11.1 kW for the traditional dwelling, and 10.3 kW for the apartment, each with a single battery of capacity 12 kWh

Innovative network pricing to support the transition to a smart grid in a low-carbon economy

This paper outlines how current distribution network pricing can be revised to enable transition to a smart grid in a low-carbon economy. Using insights from expert interviews, it highlights multiple trade-offs between innovative pricing approaches and regulatory principles which might be resolved by a political decision on how the costs should be recovered or socialised. It then identifies four essentials for a successful implementation of a new mechanism: (i) Closer collaboration between TSO and DNO/DSO concerning local dispatch to improve system efficiency. (ii) Installation of smart meters to collect data providing information about the actual contribution to the grid utilisation of each customer. (iii) Intensified cooperation between supplier and DNO/DSO to pass-through the price signal on the electricity bill. (iv) A legislative framework to facilitate data sharing and data management and communication among network stakeholders – essentially a relaxation of current privacy legislation as an enabler for new approaches to network management, and potentially to reduce costs to the consumer. This suggests the focus for future network pricing should be on services and functions provided by the grid rather than on the commodity power itself

The prospects of zero-packaging grocery stores to improve the social and environmental impacts of the food supply chain

Increasing consumer awareness of the environmental and social externalities of food supply chains in developed countries instigates the opening of grocery stores that renounce the use of disposable plastic packaging for their entire product range. The opportunities these novel stores offer in moving to an alternative, more sustainable retail system are currently not well understood. Semi-structured interviews with representatives of seven stores across Europe and six food supply chain experts were conducted in order to address this gap. Findings suggest that these stores may induce more resource-efficient behaviour in suppliers and consumers due to the reduction of packaging and food waste. Social benefits range from the support of small, regional farmers, to higher transparency along the supply chain and better informed consumers. However, these benefits come at the expense of consumer convenience due to slower shopping operations and limited product variety. A wider adoption of zero packaging will require influencing consumer behaviour, convincing suppliers to change their packaging practices, and solving the dependency of food logistics on packaging. In order to achieve wide-ranging, significant environmental and social benefits, zero-packaging stores will ultimately have to offer service levels that are comparable to conventional supermarkets. Potential pathways illustrating how zero-packaging could overcome current market limitations are presented

An innovative viable model for community-owned solar PV projects without FIT: comprehensive techno-economic assessment

The progressive withdrawal of the Feed-in-Tariff provided by the UK government has left community-owned solar photovoltaic projects facing significant financial challenges. They urgently need to develop alternative business models that will enable them to develop new projects and recuperate their costs in this post-subsidy era. One promising possibility is the incorporation of storage technology. However, currently it cannot be denied that the financial viability of this type of model is in question. This paper investigates whether and how integrated solar and battery storage system would be financially viable, using the System Advisor Model as a simulation tool to conduct techno-economic analyses. This paper proposes an innovative model designated as, the ‘Community-owned Energy Storage’ model. This model proposes that community-owned solar projects should sell their locally generated electricity under a Time of Use Power Purchase Agreement (TOU PPA). Results demonstrated under the developed model of community-owned solar projects can fully restore the economic viability and become financially attractive if they could utilise a combination of TOU PPA and demand-side response (DSR) services. This paper, therefore, recommends that the UK government should promote and facilitate the TOU PPA and encourage suppliers to involve local energy projects within the provision of DS

One technology, two pathways? Strategic Niche Management and the diverging diffusion of concentrated solar power in South Africa and the United States

The transition towards a low carbon energy system requires significant deployment of renewable energy technologies. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants could contribute to a low carbon energy system, with an estimated potential global capacity of over 600 GW by 2030. Despite this potential, however, the CSP industry lags behind other renewable technologies, with only about 4% of its estimated global potential expected to be realised in the next decade. This paper investigates the reasons for this by comparing CSP in the US, where 60% of worldwide capacity is currently located, with South Africa, where its development has been slow despite an abundance of natural solar-energy resources. Using strategic niche management analysis, we identify replicable success factors that could accelerate the uptake of CSP projects in developing countries. The results reveal that the main reason for the successful diffusion and adoption of CSP in the US is consistent policy support, which has made it possible to bridge the gap between research and development and emerge in the market. By contrast, the development of CSP in South Africa has been hindered by several technical and economic problems, including a lack of technological expertise, resources and fundin

Spatio-temporal modelling of solar photovoltaic adoption: an integrated neural networks and agent-based modelling approach

This paper investigates the spatio-temporal patterns of solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption, solving the ongoing need to inform the management of the distribution networks with spatially explicit estimations of PV adoption rates. This work addresses a key limitation of agent-based models (ABMs) that use rule or equation-based decision-making. It achieves this by adopting an aggregated definition of the agents using artificial neural networks (ANN) as the criteria for decision-making. This novel approachdraws from both ABM and Spatial Regression methods. It incorporates spatial and temporal dependencies as well as social dynamics that drive the adoption of PVs. Consequently, the model yields a more realistic characterisation of decision-making whilst reflecting individual behaviours for each location following the real-world layout. The model utilises the ANN’s approximation capabilities to generate knowledge from historical PV data, as well as adapt to changes in data trends. First, an autoregressive model is developed. This is then extended to capture the population heterogeneity by introducing socioeconomic variables into the agent’s decision-making. Both models are empirically validated and benchmarked against the Bass Model. Results suggest that the model can account for the spatio-temporal and social dynamics that drive the adoption process and that the ABM and ANN integrated model has superior adaptive capabilities to the Bass model. The proposed model can estimate spatio-temporally explicit forecasts for up to five months with an accuracy of 80%. In line with the literature, results suggest that income, electricity consumption and the average household size variables yield the best results

Techno-economic optimisation of battery storage for grid-level energy services using curtailed energy from wind

The increasing integration of renewable energy sources makes balancing an electricity grid challenging due to their intermittency. Renewable energy can be curtailed especially when production exceeds demand or when there are transmission and/or distribution network congestions within a grid. However, curtailment would become unnecessary with battery storage, provided the battery storage has enough available storage capacity, which can store energy during the time of excess generation and in turn discharge it to the grid once the demand is high during peak times. Hence, stored energy from batteries can potentially offset supply from expensive and environmentally harmful peak plants e.g. open/combined cycle gas turbine. We investigated the techno-economic prospects of the utilisation of curtailed energy from the wind with bulk battery storage to replace open and combined cycle gas turbine power plants, by taking the UK as a case study. A techno-economic model to size and optimise a Li-ion type battery was developed. The optimisation aimed to determine at what cost and size the storage can be commercially viable for grid-level energy applications. Results show that under base case assumptions of a 15% day to day curtailment from wind and £200/kWh battery cost, an optimised battery size of 1.25 GWh could supply 285 GWh peak demand per annum and its corresponding net present value of £22.4m, internal rate of return of 1.7% and a payback period of 14 years could be achieved. However, to achieve the internal rate of return of 8%, a minimum hurdle rate for investment, the cost of battery would need to be below £150/kWh. Sensitivity analysis with parameters such as curtailed wind, depth of discharge, battery efficiency, and cost and income of battery shows that all techno-economic parameters considered in this research have a significant impact on the commercial viability of battery storage for grid applications

Price promises, trust deficits and energy justice: public perceptions of hydrogen homes

In an era characterised by political instability, economic uncertainty and mounting environmental pressures, hydrogen fuel is being positioned as a critical piece of the global energy security and clean energy agenda. The policy push is noteworthy in the United Kingdom, where the government is targeting industrial decarbonisation via hydrogen, while exploring a potential role for hydrogen-fuelled home appliances. Despite the imperative to secure social acceptance for accelerating the diffusion of low-carbon energy technologies, public perceptions of hydrogen homes remain largely underexplored by the researcher community. In response, this analysis draws on extensive focus group data to understand the multi-dimensional nature of social acceptance in the context of the domestic hydrogen transition. Through an integrated, mixed-methods multigroup analysis, the study demonstrates that socio-political and market acceptance are strongly interlinked, owing to a trust deficit in the government and energy industry, coupled to underlying dissatisfaction with energy markets. At the community level, hydrogen homes are perceived as a potentially positive mechanism for industrial regeneration and local economic development. Households consider short-term disruptive impacts to be tolerable, provided temporary disconnection from the gas grid does not exceed three days. However, to strengthen social acceptance, clearer communication is needed regarding the spatial dynamics and equity implications of the transition. The analysis concludes that existing trust deficits will need to be overcome, which entails fulfilling not only a ‘price promise’ on the cost of hydrogen appliances, but also enacting a ‘price pledge' on energy bills. These deliverables are fundamental to securing social acceptance for hydrogen homes.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC): EP/T518104/1 Cadent Gas Lt