Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10321/3657
Title: Technical and financial analysis of large-scale solar-PV in eThekwini Municipality : residential, business and bulk customers
Authors: Sewchurran, Sanjeeth
Davidson, Innocent E.
Keywords: Solar PV;Payback period;Net billing tariffs;Feed-in tariff;Embedded generation feasibility
Issue Date: Nov-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Source: Sewchurran, S. and Davidson, I.E. 2021. Technical and financial analysis of large-scale solar-PV in eThekwini Municipality: residential, business and bulk customers. Energy Reports. 7: 4961-4976. doi:10.1016/j.egyr.2021.07.134
Journal: Energy Reports; Vol. 7 
Abstract: 
Regulatory changes, economic challenges, environmental concerns, and changing public perception
have contributed to the profound changes observed globally in the electricity industry. Since 2008,
South Africa has been experiencing electric power deficits and outages. This has been due in part
to generation capacity constraints, belated investment in new electricity infrastructure, deferred
maintenance of existing power assets, load growth in areas which were not adequately planned for,
high population and economic growth over the last two decades. This has resulted in peak electricity
demand outstripping available power generation capacity, leading to electricity shortages and load
shedding, which is now impeding economic growth. In South Africa, forced under frequency load
shedding, rising electricity tariffs, energy efficiency, declining cost of solar PV systems, the introduction
of Carbon taxes, high cost of unserved energy has led consumers to explore embedded generation
options to assist with reducing their energy bills, hence investments in solar PV has become an option
to municipal customers. The simple payback period of solar PV systems is an important indicator for
customers to ascertain whether to invest in these systems or not. Revenue loss remains a significant
concern for municipalities who have historically designed single and two-rate bundled tariffs, which
rely on municipalities selling electricity to ensure its business’s sustainability. Municipalities have now
proposed new tariff structures designed to minimize the adverse impact of reducing electricity sales
from solar PV by creating net billing tariffs with a built in network access charge component based
on the customer’s inverter size. Case studies were carried out to better understand the impact on the
feasibility of solar PV systems with and without the implementation of these new tariffs and its impact
on the customer’s payback periods. A calculation of the levelised cost of electricity and customers rate
of return for the different customer classes were also calculated to provide a better picture on the
financial feasibility of rooftop solar PV. Results obtained from these case studies indicate lucrative
payback periods for customers installing solar PV systems with improved revenue recovery for the
municipality.
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10321/3657
ISSN: 2352-4847
DOI: 10.1016/j.egyr.2021.07.134
Appears in Collections:Research Publications (Engineering and Built Environment)

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