Evaluation of the Economic Potential of Photovoltaic Power Generation in Road Spaces

Mengjin Hu, Xiaoyang Song (), Zhongxu Bao, Zhao Liu, Mengju Wei and Yaohuan Huang
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Mengjin Hu: Economic and Technological Research Institute of State Grid Hebei Electric Power Co., Ltd., Shijiazhuang 050021, China
Xiaoyang Song: Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Zhongxu Bao: School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Zhao Liu: Economic and Technological Research Institute of State Grid Hebei Electric Power Co., Ltd., Shijiazhuang 050021, China
Mengju Wei: Economic and Technological Research Institute of State Grid Hebei Electric Power Co., Ltd., Shijiazhuang 050021, China
Yaohuan Huang: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-16

Abstract: Photovoltaic (PV) power generation has become an important clean energy generation source. In the context of transportation development and its very large energy demand, scholars have begun to use PV power generation technology on roads and their surrounding road spaces. Current research on PV power generation in road spaces has mostly focused on its feasibility and technical potential, but there have been few studies on its economic potential. For this reason, this paper used the Zhengding County of Hebei Province, China, to study the evaluation method of the technical and economic potential of PV power generation in road spaces and to analyze the development potential of PV power generation in road spaces. The results show that Zhengding County has a very high amount of road space available for PV power generation, with an effective PV installation area of 20.98 km 2 and an annual theoretical power generation capacity of 1.5 billion kWh. If the PV road space project is fully operational in 2021, it could be profitable by 2026, and the net profit (NP) could reach $705 million in 2030. The application of photovoltaic power generation in road spaces is a very promising method of sustainable energy supply.

Keywords: road spaces; solar energy photovoltaic; land use; power generation; economic potential; net profit (NP) (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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