Abstract
The issues associated with the generation of own electric power by consumers who install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels (known as solar distributed generation, or DG), attracts rapidly growing attention of both policy-makers, regulators and the members of the general public. Distributed generation (DG) comes with a lot of benefits: being the most sustainable, cleanest source of energy, solar products facilitates local priorities, such as economic growth, internal security, mitigation against climate change, and employment opportunities. However, there is another side of the coin: despite the rapid success of solar DG, it is still faced with a plethora of issues and challenges. An increase in the rooftop solar PV in might results in a transfer of wealth and costs between customer groups. There are elderly, disabled and chronically sick citizens who cannot benefit from generating their own electric power using solar PV panels, but who might still face higher electricity bills due to the higher policy support charges (levies) and taxes aimed at supporting decarbonisation through distributed generation. Overall, it appears that current network charging regime is likely to be unfit in the presence of solar PV households who do not contribute to the grid as they should be.
Highlights
There has been a rising need for affordable, green energy in the world that stepped on the path of sustainable growth, decarburization, and climate protection
One of the most effective ways how to deal with these problems might be so-called distributed generation (DG), a trend when consumers generate their own electric power by installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels
Net metering on the other hand enables distributed generators, such as customers with solar panels installed on their rooftops, to feed their excess power back to the grid at retail prices (Kok et al, 2015)
Summary
There has been a rising need for affordable, green energy in the world that stepped on the path of sustainable growth, decarburization, and climate protection. Net metering on the other hand enables distributed generators, such as customers with solar panels installed on their rooftops, to feed their excess power back to the grid at retail prices (Kok et al, 2015). Many net metering policies require utilities to purchase a DG consumer's extra power at a total retail price even though the cost of producing the electricity by the utilities is much lower. Because it is the responsibility of the utilities to maintain these electric grids, they shift the cost to the consumers and as a result, the cost of electricity increases. This paper discusses the sustainability of distributed generation and electricity pricing which have aroused by the installation of rooftop solar PV panels by consumers who either want to save on their electricity bills or are driven by the entrepreneurial concept
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