Economic assessment of grid-connected residential solar photovoltaic systems introduced under Romania’s new regulation

Abstract

Abstract Romania has recently modified its legislation concerning energy production using photovoltaic systems to support the use of renewable resources. A program which offers subsidies for the procurement and installation of solar photovoltaic systems is in progress. This paper presents the economic assessment of residential solar photovoltaic systems connected to the grid in Romania under the new regulation. The valuations were conducted for six photovoltaic systems with different capacities that can be included in the legislation concerning prosumers; eighteen cities were chosen for a nationwide investigation and five types of household annual electricity demand. The capabilities and efficiency of the photovoltaic systems were simulated using PVSOL, while Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, Profitability Index and Discounted Payback Period were used to determine the feasibility of the systems. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to examine the effect of injected energy price on the system’s efficiency. The results showed the systems were economically feasible when subsidies were available, especially those with a smaller energy production capacity. In Romania, the photovoltaic systems can be economically competitive in certain situations, like it is recommended to increase the subsidies, especially in the Northern part of the country to compensate for lower irradiance.