Economic Analysis of Rooftop Solar PV Systems in Argentina

This work conducts a profitability analysis of solar photovoltaic projects connected to the grid in the residential sector, considering the Net Billing remuneration mechanism, and comparing it with the Feed-in-Tariff structure that has been used in other countries. Due to the high investment outlays required for this technology and the interest for increasing its penetration, specific profitability analyses need to be conducted in order to find the key points that can be used by the government to contribute to promoting these investments. Three real photovoltaic projects were taken into account by considering the measured energy data during a year. In addition, the well-known Net Present Value method is used as the valuation metric. Results show that investment decisions on renewable distributed generation are significantly affected by technology costs, national financial conditions, and tariffs. The analysis also suggests that taxes included in the tariff structure under a Net Billing remuneration mechanism might be an important aspect to be taken into account during the investment valuation. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis over the capital cost and the consumed and injected energy price suggest that government policies should design the incentive mechanisms mainly over the cost of capital rather than over the exported energy tariff. In the case study considered, the investment is still not profitable.