The Impact of Subsidy Programs for Solar Thermal Applications: A Case Study for a Remote Island

Wei-Min Lin, Keh-Chin Chang and Kung-Ming Chung
Additional contact information
Wei-Min Lin: Department of Accounting Information, Tainan University of Technology, 529 Jhongjheng Rd., Yongkang, Tainan 710, Taiwan
Keh-Chin Chang: Energy Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, 2500 Sec. 1, Chung-Cheng S. Rd, Guiren, Tainan 711, Taiwan
Kung-Ming Chung: Energy Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, 2500 Sec. 1, Chung-Cheng S. Rd, Guiren, Tainan 711, Taiwan

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-11

Abstract: Government intervention in the form of financial incentives is crucial for translating customer choice into a larger market share for solar thermal applications. The lengthy subsidy programs for solar water heaters in Taiwan have expanded the local market. On a remote island (Kinmen County), the area of solar collectors that are installed per 1000 inhabitants is 192.9 square meters. This study investigates a market-driven mechanism in terms of disposable income, household structure, building type and financial viability. The dual subsidy programs appear to have distorted the local market. The cumulative energy savings for solar water heaters that are installed is misleading because the systems are over-designed and there is a high replacement rate (or shorter service period).

Keywords: subsidy; solar thermal; renewable energy (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: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/20/3944/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/20/3944/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:20:p:3944-:d:277473

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().