Economic Appraisal of Investment Projects in Solar Energy under Uncertainty via Fuzzy Real Option Approach (Case Study: a 2-MW Photovoltaic Plant in South of Isfahan, Iran)

Abstract

Investment in renewable energies especially solar energies is encountered with numerous uncertainties considering the increased dynamism in economic and financial conditions and makes investment in this field irreversible to a large extent, paying attention to modern methods of economic appraisal of such investments is highly important. A framework is provided in the current study in order to employ the real option theory in evaluation of photovoltaic plants comparing with traditional methods. To this end, first, uncertainty factors of these plants in Isfahan province (one of highly susceptible regions in Iran) are identified from the view point of experts and impact factor of each one on interests and expenses of the above plant will be evaluated in order to insert these parameters in the form of fuzzy numbers in the model for better coverage of uncertainty. Then, the project under study is evaluated through both traditional methods and fuzzy real option approach with the help of Black-Scholes model and the results are compared. The results disclosed that investment value in these plants is increased if real expansion and abandonment options are considered. As a result, the real option theory has a higher adequacy than the traditional methods for evaluation of projects.