Distributed Solar Utility Tariff and Revenue Impact Analysis: A Guidebook for International Practitioners

Technical Report · Sun Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1726044· OSTI ID:1726044

Zinaman, Owen ^[1]; Darghouth, Naim ^[2]

---

1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Depending on a range of technical, economic, policy, regulatory, and market-related factors, the adoption of DPV may have a net positive or negative financial impact on utilities and ratepayers. This guidebook provides a methodological approach for quantifying the net financial impact of DPV on utilities (in the form of “net revenue losses”) and ratepayers (in the form of “net tariff impacts”). Written for technical staff at utilities, regulatory bodies, energy ministries, research institutes, and civil society organizations who wish to better understand the financial impacts of DPV in their jurisdiction, this guidebook can be used to inform important decisions regarding DPV compensation, tariff design, and regulatory cost allocations, among other aspects. It is focused exclusively on customer-sited DPV systems and adopts a primarily cost-based (as opposed to an equally valid value-based) perspective to understanding DPV financial impacts. The approach for calculating net revenue losses can be applied in nearly any utility jurisdiction, regardless of institutional arrangements, business models, or regulatory paradigms.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1726044
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP--7A40-78058; MainId:31967; UUID:59977887-a2ff-4057-a9a0-751866bac31e; MainAdminID:18861
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
DPV
DPV analysis
DPV financial impacts
USAID
costs and benefits
distributed solar
greening the grid
rate design
ratemaking
renewable energy
renewable energy tariff design
solar PV
solar compensation
solar photovoltaics
solar review impact
solar tariff design
solar tariff impact
utility financial impact
value drivers
value of solar