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Benefits of photovoltaic power in supplying national electricity demand

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  • Barnham, Keith
  • Knorr, Kaspar
  • Mazzer, Massimo

Abstract

The beneficial results of the exponential expansion of photovoltaic installations in Germany and Italy are discussed. Remarkable falls in the peak price of electricity have been observed in both countries. The reasons are discussed in the light of the data from the Kombikraftwerk project. This has demonstrated, in a scaled, real-time experiment, how the demand on the German grid can be met by photovoltaics and wind with back-up from biogas and (pumped hydro) storage. We discuss the implications of the fall in price of photovoltaic cells particularly for 3rd generation technology. Using the specific example of the UK, we demonstrate the advantages of the complementary nature of wind and photovoltaic resources. We demonstrate that the wind and photovoltaic capacity targets for an all renewably powered UK are likely to be significantly lower than in Germany. We conclude by summarising the evidence in favour of a moratorium on all new electricity generation other than by the renewables.

Suggested Citation

  • Barnham, Keith & Knorr, Kaspar & Mazzer, Massimo, 2013. "Benefits of photovoltaic power in supplying national electricity demand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 385-390.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:54:y:2013:i:c:p:385-390
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.077
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2008. "Valuing the greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear power: A critical survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 2940-2953, August.
    2. Sinden, Graham, 2007. "Characteristics of the UK wind resource: Long-term patterns and relationship to electricity demand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 112-127, January.
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    2. Rosenbloom, Daniel & Meadowcroft, James, 2014. "Harnessing the Sun: Reviewing the potential of solar photovoltaics in Canada," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 488-496.
    3. Jones, Christopher & Gilbert, Paul & Raugei, Marco & Mander, Sarah & Leccisi, Enrica, 2017. "An approach to prospective consequential life cycle assessment and net energy analysis of distributed electricity generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 350-358.
    4. Ranjbaran, Parisa & Yousefi, Hossein & Gharehpetian, G.B. & Astaraei, Fatemeh Razi, 2019. "A review on floating photovoltaic (FPV) power generation units," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 332-347.
    5. Khoshrou, Abdolrahman & Dorsman, André B. & Pauwels, Eric J., 2019. "The evolution of electricity price on the German day-ahead market before and after the energy switch," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 1-13.
    6. Motlagh, Omid & Paevere, Phillip & Hong, Tang Sai & Grozev, George, 2015. "Analysis of household electricity consumption behaviours: Impact of domestic electricity generation," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 270(C), pages 165-178.
    7. Abdolrahman Khoshrou & Eric J. Pauwels, 2018. "Quantifying Volatility Reduction in German Day-ahead Spot Market in the Period 2006 through 2016," Papers 1807.07328, arXiv.org.
    8. Janda, Karel & Tuma, Ladislav, 2016. "Market viability of photovoltaic plants: merit order effect approach," MPRA Paper 74884, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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