Infographic: Utility-Scale Solar Avoids SRE
Infographic: Utility-Scale Solar Avoids SRE
Utility-scale solar separates photovoltaic electricity generation from household users and thus avoids the solar rebound effect.
As of 2022, total electric generating capacity of solar photovoltaics in the United States reached nearly 113,000 megawatts (MWs), 71,000 MW are utility scale and the remaining third (40,000 MW) are in the commercial, industrial, and residential sectors. Of the small-scale capacity, nearly 68 percent (27,000 MW) is residential. Small-scale residential PV makes up less than 24 percent of total PV capacity but dominates economic and policy solar energy research.
In comparison, the market effects of utility-scale solar are hardly looked at, concluded Matthew Oliver, associate professor at Georgia Institute of Technology School of Economics in the Electricity Journal article, “Tipping the Scale: Why Utility-Scale Solar Avoids a Solar Rebound and What It Means for U.S. Solar Policy.” Oliver never offers a reason for the disparity but concluded that widespread adoption of residential PV resulted in unintended consequences of which one, under net metering, is the solar rebound effect (SRE).
Oliver concluded that utility-scale solar avoids SRE. “With utility-scale solar the household’s electricity consumption incentives remain unchanged. This is because utility scale solar decouples PV electricity generation from the household’s consumption decision and avoids the need for a distortionary policy like net metering to incentivize adoption,” he concluded.
In comparison, the market effects of utility-scale solar are hardly looked at, concluded Matthew Oliver, associate professor at Georgia Institute of Technology School of Economics in the Electricity Journal article, “Tipping the Scale: Why Utility-Scale Solar Avoids a Solar Rebound and What It Means for U.S. Solar Policy.” Oliver never offers a reason for the disparity but concluded that widespread adoption of residential PV resulted in unintended consequences of which one, under net metering, is the solar rebound effect (SRE).
Oliver concluded that utility-scale solar avoids SRE. “With utility-scale solar the household’s electricity consumption incentives remain unchanged. This is because utility scale solar decouples PV electricity generation from the household’s consumption decision and avoids the need for a distortionary policy like net metering to incentivize adoption,” he concluded.
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