Developing a Techno-Economic Modelling Tool for Small Scale Utility Solar PV Technology for Quantifying Environmental Impacts

Abstract

Throughout the growth of the energy industry in the world, photovoltaics have received a trajectory of growth. This has witnessed many plants being installed to augment the existing grid or as alternatives to those living away from the grid. Solar Photovoltaics plants occupy large tracts of land, which would have been used for other economic activities for revenue generation such as agriculture, forestry, and tourism in archaeological sites. The negative impacts slow down the application of Solar PV. Still, a modeling tool that can quickly and quantitatively assess the effects in monetary form would accelerate the Solar PV application. This paper presents a developed modeling tool that determines not only the techno-economic impacts but also the environmental impacts in monetary form for one to be able to assess the viability of a plant in a given region. Solar-PV based Power and Environmental Cost Assessment (SPECA) model was developed to help in the following ways: (i) understanding of Solar PV based power generation and its interactions with the resource inputs, the private costs, externalities, external costs, and hence the environmental and social-economic impacts over the lifespan of the plant (ii) aiding investors of Solar PV with a tool which has a clear graphical and user interface for detection of the main drivers of the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) (iii) creating an enabling environment for decision-makers aided by a visual SPECA modeling tool which takes into account the financial viability and the environmental impacts of Solar PV. Keywords— Externalities, LCOE, USSE, ECOS Model, LECOE.