[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/sgc/wpaper/201.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

WACC the Dog: The Effect of Financing Costs on the Levelized Cost of Solar Pv Power

Author

Abstract
The photovoltaic (PV) power industry has grown rapidly in recent years, and associated with that growth has been a decline in costs. There are indications that PV has already reached cost-parity with power off the grid in some markets and projections that it will attain such grid parity in many more markets over the coming decade. Analysts have suggested that the growth in PV has come at an unnecessarily high price, with unnecessarily high subsidies. However, the factors influencing the cost of PV, and the subsidies required to sustain its construction, include more than just the strength of the sun. While differences in costs of such factors as initial capital spending, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning are hard to ascertain, it is possible to account for the cost of capital, on a country-by-country basis. In this paper, we therefore map the cost of solar PV globally, accounting for both the quality of the solar resource and the cost of capital in order to differentiate levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) from PV. Our results suggest that northern countries may not be an unwise location to subsidize PV construction, and further suggest that efforts to expand PV installation in developing countries may benefit greatly from policies designed to make low cost finance more widely available.

Suggested Citation

  • Janosch Ondraczek & Nadejda Komendantova & Anthony Patt, 2013. "WACC the Dog: The Effect of Financing Costs on the Levelized Cost of Solar Pv Power," Working Papers FNU-201, Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University.
    • Handle: RePEc:sgc:wpaper:201
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.fnu.zmaw.de/fileadmin/fnu-files/publication/working-papers/Ondraczek_et_al._2013_Working-Paper_FNU_201.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2013
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peters, Michael & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Wiederkehr, David & Schneider, Malte, 2011. "Shedding light on solar technologies'A techno-economic assessment and its policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6422-6439, October.
    2. Deichmann, Uwe & Meisner, Craig & Murray, Siobhan & Wheeler, David, 2011. "The economics of renewable energy expansion in rural Sub-Saharan Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 215-227, January.
    3. Demirguc, Asli & Huizinga, Harry, 1999. "Determinants of Commercial Bank Interest Margins and Profitability: Some International Evidence," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 13(2), pages 379-408, May.
    4. Kevin Ummel, 2010. "Global Prospects for Utility-Scale Solar Power: Toward Spatially Renewable Energy Systems - Working Paper 235," Working Papers 235, Center for Global Development.
    5. Komendantova, Nadejda & Patt, Anthony & Williges, Keith, 2011. "Solar power investment in North Africa: Reducing perceived risks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4829-4835.
    6. Painuly, J.P, 2001. "Barriers to renewable energy penetration; a framework for analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 73-89.
    7. Tobias S. Schmidt & Robin Born & Malte Schneider, 2012. "Assessing the costs of photovoltaic and wind power in six developing countries," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(7), pages 548-553, July.
    8. Bazilian, Morgan & Onyeji, Ijeoma & Liebreich, Michael & MacGill, Ian & Chase, Jennifer & Shah, Jigar & Gielen, Dolf & Arent, Doug & Landfear, Doug & Zhengrong, Shi, 2013. "Re-considering the economics of photovoltaic power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 329-338.
    9. Pfeiffer, Birte & Mulder, Peter, 2013. "Explaining the diffusion of renewable energy technology in developing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 285-296.
    10. Branker, K. & Pathak, M.J.M. & Pearce, J.M., 2011. "A review of solar photovoltaic levelized cost of electricity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4470-4482.
    11. Ondraczek, Janosch, 2014. "Are we there yet? Improving solar PV economics and power planning in developing countries: The case of Kenya," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 604-615.
    12. Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2006. "International Differences in the Cost of Equity Capital: Do Legal Institutions and Securities Regulation Matter?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 485-531, June.
    13. Tobias S. Schmidt, 2014. "Low-carbon investment risks and de-risking," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(4), pages 237-239, April.
    14. Seel, Joachim & Barbose, Galen L. & Wiser, Ryan H., 2014. "An analysis of residential PV system price differences between the United States and Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 216-226.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lang, Tillmann & Gloerfeld, Erik & Girod, Bastien, 2015. "Don׳t just follow the sun – A global assessment of economic performance for residential building photovoltaics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 932-951.
    2. Ondraczek, Janosch, 2014. "Are we there yet? Improving solar PV economics and power planning in developing countries: The case of Kenya," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 604-615.
    3. Spiros Papaefthimiou, Manolis Souliotis, and Kostas Andriosopoulos, 2016. "Grid parity of solar energy: imminent fact or future's fiction," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Bollino-M).
    4. Sommerfeldt, Nelson & Madani, Hatef, 2017. "Revisiting the techno-economic analysis process for building-mounted, grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems: Part one – Review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1379-1393.
    5. Sweerts, Bart & Longa, Francesco Dalla & van der Zwaan, Bob, 2019. "Financial de-risking to unlock Africa's renewable energy potential," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 75-82.
    6. George A. Gonzalez, 2016. "Transforming Energy: Solving Climate Change with Technology Policy . New York : Cambridge University Press . 360 pages. ISBN 9781107614970, $29.99 paperback. Anthony Patt , 2015 ," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 33(1), pages 111-113, January.
    7. Tao, Jacqueline Yujia & Finenko, Anton, 2016. "Moving beyond LCOE: impact of various financing methods on PV profitability for SIDS," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 749-758.
    8. Moon, Yongma & Baran, Mesut, 2018. "Economic analysis of a residential PV system from the timing perspective: A real option model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 783-795.
    9. Farah Roslan & Ștefan Cristian Gherghina & Jumadil Saputra & Mário Nuno Mata & Farah Diana Mohmad Zali & José Moleiro Martins, 2022. "A Panel Data Approach towards the Effectiveness of Energy Policies in Fostering the Implementation of Solar Photovoltaic Technology: Empirical Evidence for Asia-Pacific," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-22, May.
    10. Koumparou, Ioannis & Christoforidis, Georgios C. & Efthymiou, Venizelos & Papagiannis, Grigoris K. & Georghiou, George E., 2017. "Configuring residential PV net-metering policies – A focus on the Mediterranean region," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 795-812.
    11. Schmidt, Tobias S. & Battke, Benedikt & Grosspietsch, David & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2016. "Do deployment policies pick technologies by (not) picking applications?—A simulation of investment decisions in technologies with multiple applications," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 1965-1983.
    12. Dobrotkova, Zuzana & Surana, Kavita & Audinet, Pierre, 2018. "The price of solar energy: Comparing competitive auctions for utility-scale solar PV in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 133-148.
    13. Luis Ramirez Camargo & Judith Franco & Nilsa María Sarmiento Babieri & Silvina Belmonte & Karina Escalante & Raphaela Pagany & Wolfgang Dorner, 2016. "Technical, Economical and Social Assessment of Photovoltaics in the Frame of the Net-Metering Law for the Province of Salta, Argentina," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-21, February.
    14. Guta, Dawit Diriba & Börner, Jan, 2015. "Energy security, uncertainty, and energy resource use option in Ethiopia: A sector modelling approach," Discussion Papers 207697, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    15. Rose, Amy & Stoner, Robert & Pérez-Arriaga, Ignacio, 2016. "Prospects for grid-connected solar PV in Kenya: A systems approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 583-590.
    16. Hoppmann, Joern & Volland, Jonas & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2014. "The economic viability of battery storage for residential solar photovoltaic systems – A review and a simulation model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1101-1118.
    17. Egli, Florian, 2020. "Renewable energy investment risk: An investigation of changes over time and the underlying drivers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    18. Schwerhoff, Gregor & Sy, Mouhamadou, 2017. "Financing renewable energy in Africa – Key challenge of the sustainable development goals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 393-401.
    19. Battke, Benedikt & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Grosspietsch, David & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2013. "A review and probabilistic model of lifecycle costs of stationary batteries in multiple applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 240-250.
    20. Tobias Schmidt & Sandeep Dabur, 2014. "Explaining the diffusion of biogas in India: a new functional approach considering national borders and technology transfer," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 16(2), pages 171-199, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    solar photovoltaic; levelized cost of electricity; cost of capital; global model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C29 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Other
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sgc:wpaper:201. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Uwe Schneider (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zmhamde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.