Assessment of regulatory framework conditions of locally generated solar power use

The international research project PVP4Grid studies the legal and political framework conditions of the individual and collective use of locally generated solar power. An analysis of eight different countries has now been published and shows clear differences. Utrecht University Professor Wilfried van Sark is involved in this international cooperation.

In the report the researchers refer to prosumers – energy consumers who also produce energy themselves. The report differentiates between three prosumer concepts –  individual self-consumption, collective use of a photovoltaic system within a building and solar power supply at neighbourhood level.

Conclusions

The research team studies the legal and political framework of these three concepts in eight different European countries. According to the study, individual self-consumption is legally possible in all of the countries examined. The Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria and Portugal allow the shared use of a photovoltaic system within the same building, while this is expressly forbidden in Belgium, Italy and Spain. Solar power supply at neighbourhood level, making use of the public power grid, is so far only legally permissible and economically feasible in two of the countries examined, namely France and the Netherlands.

A significant basis

“The analysis of existing framework conditions in the individual countries forms a significant basis for the continuing work of PVP4Grid”, says Carsten Körnig, Executive Director of BSW-Solar, which coordinates of the project. “The aim of the international project is to make a contribution to the development of improved prosumer concepts and the spread of consumer-friendly solar power.”

The potential that the various prosumer concepts hold for photovoltaics also depends on the respective funding mechanisms that are in place. “In the Netherlands net metering is still possible for a number of years," says Prof Wilfried van Sark from Utrecht University. “In other countries where a feed-in fee applies, individual self-consumption plays only a minor role. Especially for older small-scale PV systems that receive remuneration for the solar power they feed into the grid at higher rates than the current electricity price for final consumers. But the ever decreasing feed-back fee makes self-consumption by using own batteries economically more interesting. Also for the Netherlands, when net metering will eventueally be phased out."

More information

Both the full report as well as reports per participating country can be found on the PVP4Grid website.