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Solar photovoltaic self-consumption in the UK residential sector: New estimates from a smart grid demonstration project

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  • McKenna, Eoghan
  • Pless, Jacquelyn
  • Darby, Sarah J.

Abstract

The economic incentive to install a solar photovoltaics (‘PV’) system depends increasingly on using PV generation on-site (‘self-consumption’) rather than receiving payments from generating solar energy and exporting it to the grid. There is, however, remarkably little empirical evidence on self-consumption. This paper begins to address this gap by analysing one-minute electricity monitoring data for 302 households that participated in a UK smart grid demonstration project. We calculate annual self-consumption levels and find that they are 855 kWh/year per household on average, or 45% of PV generation. We conduct a simple regression analysis to estimate self-consumption and use the results to show that self-consumption for an average UK household with electricity demand of 4000 kWh/year and 2.9 kWp PV system would be 966 ± 38 kWh/year, equivalent to a 24% reduction in average annual electricity demand from the grid. Our methodology can be readily applied to measure and predict self-consumption in other solar markets as well, which has increasingly important implications for valuing solar investments, setting feed-in tariffs, and examining the impacts of PV on networks and retail sales.

Suggested Citation

  • McKenna, Eoghan & Pless, Jacquelyn & Darby, Sarah J., 2018. "Solar photovoltaic self-consumption in the UK residential sector: New estimates from a smart grid demonstration project," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 482-491.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:118:y:2018:i:c:p:482-491
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.04.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pfeiffer, Alexander & Millar, Richard & Hepburn, Cameron & Beinhocker, Eric, 2016. "The ‘2°C capital stock’ for electricity generation: Committed cumulative carbon emissions from the electricity generation sector and the transition to a green economy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1395-1408.
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