The Recent Change in the Italian Policies for Photovoltaics: Effects on the Energy Demand Coverage of Grid-Connected PV Systems Installed in Urban Contexts

Aldo Orioli, Vincenzo Franzitta, Alessandra Di Gangi and Ferdinando Foresta
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Aldo Orioli: Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell’Informazione e Modelli Matematici (D.E.I.M.), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Edificio 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Vincenzo Franzitta: Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell’Informazione e Modelli Matematici (D.E.I.M.), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Edificio 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Alessandra Di Gangi: Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell’Informazione e Modelli Matematici (D.E.I.M.), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Edificio 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Ferdinando Foresta: Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell’Informazione e Modelli Matematici (D.E.I.M.), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Edificio 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-31

Abstract: In July 2013, the Italian photovoltaic (PV) support policies changed the feed-in tariff (FIT) mechanism and turned to a tax credits program, which is currently in force. The aim of this paper is to investigate how such a radical change has influenced the electricity demand coverage of the PV systems installed in urban contexts. A methodology, which connects the economic assessment to a detailed architectural and energy suitability analysis, was applied to some case studies to analyse the relationships between the physical parameters related to multi-storey buildings (roof shapes, number of floors and area of flats) and the most relevant economic and financial features affecting the viability of rooftop PV systems. The study, which considers only the electricity produced by the PV systems that are economically profitable, highlighted that the tax credits scheme is even more effective in covering the electrical consumption of densely urbanised Italian city districts. The results, which are significantly influenced by the latitude of the analysed districts, underline the opportunity for governments to adopt PV promoting policies that are more sensitive to the amount of solar energy available in the different regions of their national territory.

Keywords: photovoltaic; feed-in tariff; tax credit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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