Assessing E3 impacts of RES integration using residential consumer’s willingness to invest in PV systems

Abstract

This paper presents an assessment of the Economic, Energy and Environmental (E3) impacts of different scenarios related to the penetration of renewable energy systems in an urban context. For this purpose, Coimbra, a medium sized Portuguese city, has been chosen as decision-making set. The results of a survey aiming at analysing and evaluating the perceptions and willingness to invest in residential photovoltaic systems, along with a technical and economic evaluation of different photovoltaic systems focusing on the installed power, together with the data characterizing the housing stock of the city, have been used for the definition and analysis of three scenarios. The obtained results, pointing to a relatively small contribution from the photovoltaic component to the overall city residential electricity consumption, may be considered by electricity operators and can help policy-makers to define stronger measures to support the installation of residential renewable energy systems.