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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene
articleinfo Resumen
Este estudio presenta un análisis económico de los sistemas fotovoltaicos (PV) residenciales y comerciales
Article history:
Received 20 December 2016
en Chile. Chile continental presenta un buen recurso solar y también es un país interesante para desarrollar
Received in revised form proyectos fotovoltaicos de todos los tamaños (a gran escala, comercial y residencial). El análisis se realizó en
17 March 2017 los dos mayores sistemas de energía eléctrica., específicamente en los 314 distritos de 13 regiones de Chile,
Accepted 7 April 2017 teniendo en cuenta el marco regulatorio chileno actual. Los resultados del desempeño e conómico de los
Available online 7 April 2017 sistemas fotovoltaicos residenciales y comerciales se obtuvieron y presentaron en mapas de sistemas de
información geo-referenciados (GIS). Los resultados muestran que casi todo el país exhibe un gran
Keywords: potencial, obteniendo en varias ubicaciones una TIR más alta que el valor de referencia (5% / año) para
Residential PV ambos esquemas (residencial y comercial), destacando que la región centro-norte alcanza el nivel más alto
Commercial PV Valores de IRR. Se encontró que los distritos se pueden caracterizar por las tarifas de electricidad en grupos
PV economic feasibility que aumentan la TIR linealmente con el rendimiento específico [kWh / kWp]. Este estudio es de primordial
Chile
importancia para el desarrollo de las energías renovables en la región, ya que proporcion a una mayor
comprensión sobre la viabilidad económica de la tecnología fotovoltaica en todo el país.
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: gonzalo.ramirez@fraunhofer.cl (G. Ramírez-Sagner).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2017.04.011
0960-1481/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
G. Ramírez-Sagner et al. / Renewable Energy 111 (2017) 332e343 333
the assumptions and economic analysis of developing commercial than in other zones of the World. These two effects are the main
and residential PV systems under the current regulatory frame- responsible for having dry air and low presence of clouds inland,
work. Finally, in Section 5 the results and analysis are presented, in hence reducing the atmospheric attenuation of the solar radiation.
which a sensitivity analysis is performed as an effort to understand In fact, the Atacama Desert is considered the most arid desert in the
challenges and opportunities for the PV industry. At the end, in world. In the northern part of Chile, an aggressive coastal range
Section 6, the discussion of the proposed analysis is done, followed separates the coastline climate from the inland. Hence the annual
by Section 7, where conclusions are drawn from the exercise as an GHI values for the coastline varies between 1800 and 2400 kWh/
effort for adding value to the current national energy discussion. m2-year whilst inland the GHI value reach up to 2700 kWh/m2-year
per year. The seasonal variation affects the daylight hours and
2. Chilean solar resource conditions irradiation, yet in the Atacama Desert (22.4 ○S) the monthly average
of daily GHI reaches 9.1 kWh/m2-day in December (summer) and
Continental Chile has a length of around 4200 km along the 4.8 kWh/m2-day in June (winter) [23,27]. For latitudes, higher than
south-west coast of South America (17.0○ 300 S to 56.0○ S), with an 30.0○ south, the presence of vegetation increases and several val-
average width of 177 km. Its climate is dominated by the Andes leys appear where the main urban centers and agricultural areas
along its eastern edge and the Pacific Ocean to the west. To the are located. However, in Santiago (33.0 ○ S), the capital city of Chile,
expected climate variation from north to south, the mentioned the annual GHI is comparable to the values of south Spain
geographical features along the entire country cause also pro- (Almería~1870 kWh/m2-year), where many solar projects have
nounced climate variation from east to west. Chile has the highest been developed including PV and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP).
solar irradiation levels around in the world due to these particular Moreover, the annual GHI in Puerto Montt (41.0○S) is higher than in
climate conditions [6]. The Andes works as a 5000-m height wall south of Germany (Munich~1180 kWh/m2-year), country leading in
that prevents the wet air masses from the Amazon to reach the PV development for residential and industries appliances [18]. Fig. 1
Chilean territory. Also, the cold Humboldt Current coming from the details the georeferenced GHI values throughout continental Chile.
Antarctica runs throughout the Chilean coast (seawater at Given the previously mentioned irradiation conditions, throughout
11.0e14.0 ○C), thus the evaporation rate in the coastal area is lower continental Chile, an exemplary Levelized Cost of
Fig. 1. GHI [kWh/m2 -year] (left) and LCOE [USD/MWh] (right) distribution for Chile.
G. Ramírez-Sagner et al. / Renewable Energy 111 (2017) 332e343 335
Description Unit Value The Chilean electric market regulation distinguishes three ac-
Discount Rate % 5.0
tivities: generation, transmission and distribution. The latter two
Investment Cost USD/Wp 1.1 are considered natural monopolies and their rates are regulated.
Evaluation Period Years 20 While the former is considered as an open market, that ideally
O&M Costs USD/kWp-year 30 would drive prices down by means of private competition.
Degradation %/year 0.5
The market structure considers a power pool that makes a
centralized least cost dispatch of the available generation pool. This
dispatch is made by the Independent System Operator (ISO) using
Table 2 audited variable costs and technical parameters of the generation
Regulated tariffs cost structure. park and transmission system. The main traded products in this
Tariff Scheme Energy [USD/kWh] Capacity [USD/kW-Month]
market are energy and power, with a small participation of auxil-
iary services.
LV1 Energy þ Capacity þ DAV e
This power pool uses Locational Marginal Prices (LMPs) as a tool
HV/LV2 Energy Capacity þ DAV
HV/LV3 Energy Capacity þ DAV for reflecting marginal energy prices, transmission energy losses
HV/LV4 Energy Capacity þ DAV and bottle necks (decoupling of systems). Only generation com-
panies are allowed to trade energy at the spot market, thus bilateral
contracts are needed between generation companies/Distribution
Network Operators (DNOs) and the end consumers. This allows the
Electricity (LCOE) exercise if performed for understanding the decoupling of short term economic signals (spot energy prices) and
large-scale PV (multi MWp plant e over 3 MW- commercializing long term economic signals (efficient technology development
its production at the wholesale market) potential in Chile (see costs). This long term economic signal protects the end user from
Fig. 1). A large-scale PV plant with single-axis tracking system short term price variability and gives financial certainty to
(north-south axis) was modeled using Solargis’ pvPlanner tool, investors.
considering the financial parameters shown in Table 1. These
parameters were based on unpublished data supplied by project
developers and EPC enterprises in Chile. O&M considers a con-
servative value.
The LCOE is calculated according to the following equation
which have been adapted from MIT [28] and Darling et al. [29]:
PT
Investment þ PVC$ O&Mt
t¼1 ð1þrÞt
LCOEk ¼ PT SYk $ PVC$ð1—DR$tÞ
(1)
t
t¼1 ð1þrÞ
Where:
The Chilean electric regulation identifies two types of end 4. Commercial and residential PV economic analysis
consumers, the unregulated and the regulated clients. The former
present installed capacities larger than 2000 kW (between 500 This section details the assumptions, technical and economic
and 2000 kW they can choose to be regulated clients) and have to analysis performed to obtain the economic performance of a resi-
negotiate Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with generation dential and commercial PV installation for the 314 districts evalu-
companies or with DNOs. This format allows a PPA to take any ated in this study.
format or structure (price, duration, indexation and general con-
ditions) negotiated by the two parties. The regulated clients, that 4.1. Generation assumptions
are the ones analyzed on this study, have a tariff defined by the
regulator. These tariffs are firstly divided depending on the The electric generation was modeled using Solargis’ pvPlanner
voltage level at which the client is connected (low or high tool [18,35] for every analyzed city, considering optimal azimuth
voltage). Secondly, they are subdivided on how to measure the and inclination for each geographical location. This tool considers
capacity use. LV1 tariffs charge all products: energy, capacity and long-term annual and monthly average values of irradiation and
distribution added value (DAV: cost of the electric distribution weather parameters like ambient temperature. The electric model
system infrastructure that allows to supply end regulated and considers the installed capacity of the PV system, modeling the sun
commercial customers, or “last mile” transmission cost) in an path geometry and its in-plane global irradiation, which is calcu-
energized scheme, HV/LV2 tariffs charge a fixed contracted lated using the global horizontal and direct normal irradiation
amount of capacity, HV/LV3 tariffs charge the maximum used database and the mounting system (fixed or with tracking). Far
capacity during the month and HV/LV4 tariffs are a mix between shading is also considered, which takes into account the near
contracted and measured with the acknowledgement of “peak slopes, hills and mountains existing in the region.
hours”, where the generation, transmission and distribution sys- Depending on the type of modules selected, the tool models the
tems are stressed the most (see Table 2). Commonly the resi- angular reflections, at the surface of the modules. After modeling
dential clients are restricted to the LV1 tariff, which has a limit of the electric production, DC losses are added, which account for
G. Ramírez-Sagner et al. / Renewable Energy 111 (2017) 332e343 337
pollution losses, mismatch, cables and interconnections. No local ● EP energy purchase price from the network in [USD/MWh].
soiling conditions are able to be defined due to the high spatial ● IC the overnight investment cost in [USD].
specificity of this phenomenon. Inverter, AC losses and system ● ECPVt the energy consumption made from the network for the
availability are also taken into consideration [35]. The exercise done PV case (by definition a lower value than ECBAUt ) at year t in
in this study considers a crystalline silicon system on a fixed roof [MWh].
mounted structure facing North with a tilt angle equal to the lati- ● O&Mt the annual cost of operation and maintenance of the PV
tude of each location, a yearly availability of 99% of the time, DC/AC system for year t in [USD].
losses of 5.5% and 1.5% and euro inverter efficiency of 97.5%. ● IPVt the surplus generation from the PV system injected back to
the network in year t in MWh.
4.2. Economic assumptions ● IEPt the energy price for the energy injected to the network in
[USD/MWh].
The economic assessment of the PV system is performed using ● PVGt the annual generation of the PV system for year t in [MWh].
the discounted cash flow method. As the first assumption made, ● SCF the self-consumption factor in % ranging from 0 to 100%.
only energy savings were considered, due to the fact that capacity ● SY the specific yield of the PV system depending on the location
saving estimations are complex, and under the current Chilean in MWh/kWp-yr.
regulation PV systems do not guarantee reliable ways of decreasing ● DR the annual linear degradation rate of the PV modules in
them (i.e. cloudiness during measurement of peak demand). This %/year.
indicates that the economic performance shown on this work is to ● r the annual discount rate of the economic exercise in [%].
be considered a lower bound. ● T the evaluation period of the economic exercise in years.
The cash flows stream of the economic model consider the
annual difference between the base case exercise without PV sys- To complete the economic analysis, the Internal Rate of Return
tem (Business as Usual or BAU), which only accounts for energy (IRR) is calculated. IRR is a widely-used parameter in the industry
purchased from the network, and the case with an installed PV for measuring the profitability of potential investments, and often
system, which considers the overnight investment cost, operational is compared with a required rate of return. Its calculation consists
and maintenance cost, reduced energy purchased from the on determining the discount rate that makes the NPV equal to zero
network and surplus generation energy sold back to the network. A [37,38]. If the IRR is equal to or greater than the required rate of
full equity analysis was performed, not including financing options return, then the project can be considered financially acceptable. If
in the economic analysis. it is less, the project is rejected [39].
Summarized, the cash flows take into account are:
5. Results and analysis
● Business as Usual Energy Purchase Cost [USD/year]
● Overnight Investment Cost [USD/Wp] This section details the results of the economic exercise ob-
● Operational and Maintenance costs [USD/kWp-year] tained under current rate prices, regulation and irradiation condi-
● Energy Purchase Cost with Installed PV System [USD/year] tions throughout Chile. The financial parameters for the exercise
● Surplus Generated Energy Sold with Installed PV System [USD/ are detailed in Table 3. The investment and operational expenses
year] (CAPEX and OPEX respectively) illustrate current approximate
market prices for PV systems. While the self-consumption param-
The mathematical formulation for the Net Present Cost (NPC) of eter of 30% for residential and 90% commercial systems illustrate a
the base and PV case and the Net Present Value (NPV) are presented conservative scenario. The 20-year study horizon and 5% annual
in the following equations, which use a similar methodology from discount rate were selected as referential financial parameters,
other studies [8,36]: although, they still reflect the geographical differences on the
T economic performance of the PV systems throughout Chile. This
X ECBAUt $EP
NPCBAU ¼ (2) discount rate it is only used as a reference for the IRR analysis,
t¼1 ð1 þ rÞt based on the fact that for residential customers this rate is still more
attractive than a common bank investment product rate (mutual
T funds for instance). Moreover, a sensitivity analysis on the discount
X ECPVt $EP þ O&Mt — IPVt $IEP (3) rate was performed for the grid parity results. The overnight in-
NPCPV ¼ IC þ ð1 þ rÞt
t¼1 vestment costs are based on a 2017 GIZ (German Corporation for
International Cooperation) study made in Chile [40], which ana-
NPVPV ¼ NPCBAU — NPCPV (4) lyzes the investment costs of different distributed PV systems in
Chile, specifically the ones performed on public tenders made by
the Chilean Energy Ministry. Residential systems are considered
ECPVt ¼ ECBAUt — PVGt $SCF cðtÞ21::T (5)
from 1 kWp to 10 kWp of installed capacity, while commercial
systems, are considered 30 kWp to 100 kWp (limited by the Net
IPVt ¼ PVGt $ð1 — SCFÞ cðtÞ21::T (6)
Billing Law). O&M costs are defined from experience with the be found, due to the more predominant rural and expensive dis-
Chilean industry, as an effort to reflect annual electrical inspections tribution system. In this region, the GHI ranges from 1600 to
and cleaning of modules, in conservative way. 1900 kWh/m2-year and the IRR obtained are near to 5%. Lower IRR
values can be found at the nearby bigger cities such as Concepcion
5.1. Residential PV (4%). At last, the southern region, that goes from Temuco to Puerto
Montt, a region that has GHI levels lower than 1500 kWh/m 2-year
Results for Residential PV reference case were obtained and the IRRs drops to sub 4% levels.
displayed on Fig. 4. It shows that the locations with best potential Table 4 details the results of a sensitivity analysis of the main
are located at the north-center of the country, specifically in the districts across the Chile for different self-consumption percentages
central valley (Andacollo, Vicuna, Los Andes and San Felipe), 30 km (10% and 70%) and optimistic scenario of reduction of the PV
away from the coast. This region is characterized for having GHI installed cost to 2 USD/Wp.
ranging from 2000 to 2300 kWh/m2-year and network tariffs from Under high self-consumption scenarios, the achieved IRR values
180 to 220 USD/MWh. At northern Chile, from Arica to Vallenar, the surpass the reference value on all the analyzed cities throughout
network electricity prices are the lowest and the only city with IRR Chile, some of them even surpass the 11.0% threshold (located on
higher than the reference was Calama (6%), this despite having high the north-central region), evidencing the potential for solar self-
GHI levels (2300e2800 kWh/m2-year). For the central zone, which consumption in Chile. For this configuration, the central-south re-
goes from Santiago to Talca, the results show that IRR range from 4% gion achieved similar IRR than the central region and higher than
to 5.6%, with the highest values for Valparaiso and Rancagua, the northern region, highlighting that despite the lower GHI levels
achieving similar values than northern Chile. For Santiago, the main present in the central-south region of continental Chile and further
residential consumption pole (Providencia and Lo Barnechea in the south (see Fig. 1), in scenarios with large self-consumption rates the
map), presents an IRR lower than the 5.0% level for the reference obtained IRR do not decrease in all cities. Illustrating the impact
case, due to high density and efficient use of the distribution that the retail price has on the economic exercise. For low self-
network (lower average distribution costs). In the central-south consumption (10%) scenarios, the IRR only surpasses the refer-
zone, which goes from Talca to Victoria, specifically in in-land ence level of 5% for north-central region, and across the Chile the
zones and near to the big cities, the highest electricity tariffs can IRR reaches values between 1 and 4%. This evidence that low self-
consumption scenarios do not gives enough incentives to invest.
When the installed cost of a PV system is decreased to 2 USD/
Wp, it can be seen that for the reference case the achieved IRR
values surpass the reference value for almost all Chile (with the
exception of the southern region), highlighting that some districts
surpass the 10% IRR threshold. The low self-consumption scenario
defines IRRs at the north-central, central and central-south regions
similar or greater than the reference. For the larger self-
consumptions scenario, all IRR values surpass the reference value,
obtaining a minimum IRR of 8.9% for the southern region. Even
Table 4
IRR parametric results for residential PV.
more, almost all locations reach a minimum IRR of 10%, with Table 5
maximum values of 16%. This evidence shows that decreasing PV Commercial PV IRR parametric results for different initial investment cost.
system installation costs increase the feasibility for PV installation City Initial investment cost USD/Wp
for all continental Chile, including the southern regions. 1.5 1.3 1.0
8%
7%
6%
5%
4%
IRR [%]
3%
2%
140-180 USD /MWh
1% 180-230 USD /MWh
Fig. 6. PV residential IRR vs Specific Yield distributed for different retail electricity prices and 30% of self-consumption.
Fig. 7. PV residential IRR vs Specific Yield distributed for different retail electricity prices and 70% of self-consumption.
14%
13%
12%
11%
10%
9%
IRR [%]
8%
7%
6%
5%
4%
70-100 USD/MWh
3%
100-120 USD/MWh
2%
120-140 USD/MWh
1%
1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300
Specific yield [kWh/kW]
Fig. 8. Commercial PV IRR vs Specific Yield scattered for different retail electricity prices.
340 G. Ramírez-Sagner et al. / Renewable Energy 111 (2017) 332e343
Fig. 9. Residential Grid Parity Index distribution for 30% self-consumption and LCOE [USD/MWh].
electricity price. Every cluster increases its IRR with different necessary to adjust it. To do so, a convex weighted average factor is
slopes; where the second cluster (red color) slope is 11% larger than proposed, which takes into consideration the complete retail tariff,
the first region (blue color), the third 27% and the fourth 51%. If the the value at which the surplus energy is injected at the grid and the
slopes of Figs. 6 and 7 are compared, it can be seen that the slopes self-consumption value, obtaining the following equations:
increase when the self-consumption index is increased. The in-
crease of slope for each cluster respect the base case was: 33%, 11%, EPk$ SCF þ ð1 — SCFÞ$ IEPk
32% and 46% for the first, second, third and fourth cluster respec- GPIk ¼ (8)
LCOEk
tively. It can be seen that for higher electricity tariffs the gradient of
the clusters increases more with larger self-consumption rates, Where
having as a result that places with higher electricity tariffs see more
benefits from self-consumption. Also, places that are in the clusters ● GPIk is the Grid Parity Index for location k.
of higher electricity tariff, will have more benefit if they increase ● EPk the energy price for end consumers for location k.
their specific yield, allowing that possibility to maximize the per- ● LCOEk the levelized cost of electricity calculated for the system in
formance of the PV installation to increase its profitability. location k.
The same analysis was performed for commercial PV. The results ● SCF the self-consumption factor in percentage.
are shown in Fig. 8. For this case, 3 clusters of electricity tariffs were ● IEPk the price of the injected energy back to the network.
found, ranging from 70 to 100 USD/MWh the first cluster (blue
color), from 100 to 120 USD/MWh the second cluster (red color) Fig. 9 illustrates the distribution of the grid parity index for the
and from 120 to 140 USD/MWh the third cluster (green color). It can 314 districts in Chile for the residential base-case, for which 111
be seen that the gradient of each cluster is different, and directly in obtained a value larger than one, indicating that for 35.4% of the
proportion with the tariff value. Specifically, the second cluster Chilean districts it would make economic sense to install residen-
slope is 4.7% greater than the first cluster, and the third cluster is tial PV systems as a complement to network electricity
29.4% greater than the first. For this comparison, it is shown that consumption.
the retail price can have a higher impact on the IRR than the specific When increasing the self-consumption index from 30 to 50%,
yield. the number of districts with a grid parity index larger than unity is
268 (85.4% of the districts) for the base case, indicating the weight
5.4. Grid parity analysis that this variable has on the economic outcome (see Fig. 10). It is
also worth mentioning that not only the locations with low LCOE
Another method for understanding the economic performance have high grid parity indices, indicating the importance of under-
of photovoltaic systems is to calculate its LCOE and compare it with standing the impact that the current regulated tariff values and the
the regulated end user tariff value. This cost comparison concept is solar resource have on the financial outcome of a residential PV
called Grid Parity. When calculating the ratio between the network exercise.
tariff and the LCOE, a value over unity would indicate potential for Both, Figs. 9 and 10 detail the sensitivity analysis of the discount
developing residential systems. This simple index does not rate parameter. Both figures show how an increase or decrease in
consider the difference in the self-consumption levels, thus it is the value of the discount rate can respectively decrease and
Fig. 10. Residential Grid Parity Index distribution for 50% self-consumption and LCOE [USD/MWh].
G. Ramírez-Sagner et al. / Renewable Energy 111 (2017) 332e343 343
Fig. 11. Commercial Grid Parity Index distribution for 90% self-consumption and LCOE [USD/MWh].
increase the amount of districts that present a grid parity index ● Self-consumption is a key parameter that must be further on
above unity. Both Figs. 9 and 10, also detail the importance of studied; in our work, it was parameterized. Regulatory changes
system sizing, which impacts the self-consumption parameter. can yield in different market value for distributed solar energy
For commercial systems under the base-case, 275 districts ending with a sub-utilized or stranded asset, thus it must also be
(87.6%) present a grid parity index larger than unity, indicating a considered.
large potential for developing this segment of the PV market po- ● Finally, the opportunity cost of installing distributed PV must be
tential (see Fig. 11). Increasing the discount rate of the commercial further on studied as an effort to understand which profile of
exercise yields in decreasing the number of districts with grid investor would be interested in the profile of cash-flows that
parity index larger than unity. Specifically, from 275 to 205 for an behind the meter PV presents. This must be addressed in
annual discount rate of 7% and 58 for 9%. Considering that a typical accordance with different financing options.
commercial PV system would most likely have a large self-
consumption parameter of design, lowering the perceived finan-
cial risk of the installation and operation of a distributed com- 7. Conclusions
mercial PV system would yield in a larger number of districts with a
grid parity index larger than unity. In this study an economic analysis for residential and com-
mercial PV systems was performed to survey their feasibility in
Chile. The study aims to highlight the PV system potential in all the
6. Discussion country in the residential and commercial sector, leaving behind
the statement that the development of these systems can only be
Chile has been one of the most interesting study cases in terms performed in places of very high solar irradiation. The analysis was
of renewable energy deployment. Mainly due to the presence of a extended for 314 districts of Chile. The actual regulatory framework
power market without direct incentives (PPAs for specific hours of was applied, which consist in a Net-Billing scheme and two
the day) and with a regulatory framework that mandates a mini- different tariff structure (LV1 for residential and HV4 for commer-
mum amount of contracted energy to be supplied from renewables. cial systems). The electricity tariff from the DNOs were gathered for
This constraint that has not been active and it is foreseen to stay like all the studied districts, and a weighted average electricity tariff
that for the next 5 years due to large increase of renewable market was calculated, relative to the number of costumers that each DNO
share during the last years. This scenario, arose the question of has in its concession area.
where and what kind of PV to deploy: low LCOE large-scale plants Economic performance results for both systems were obtained
located far north together with transmission infrastructure or and presented in GIS maps. The results show that almost all Chile
distributed smaller scale PV plants or systems (residential) closer to exhibits a great potential, particularly in the commercial sector. Res-
the consumption poles? idential PV system shows that more profitability is obtained for larger
The market has resolved, in what we call the “first stage” of PV self-consumptions rates. This demonstrates the potential existence
deployment in Chile, to develop large-scale PV plants but without for self-consumption in Chile. This can push public policy incentives
improving the transmission infrastructure. This is due to the for distributed energy resources, such as educational campaigns for
different development times that each kind of projects has (1e2 understanding the self-consumptionpotential. Also, the liberalization
years relative to 7e8 years). Given the situation, this work takes of the consumption metered information can be achieved, which
interest in discovering the potential of the latter option of works as an improvement for a better data exchange to the end user.
deployment, the distributed PV. The results were obtained using up The results show that decreasing PV system installation costs in-
to date parameters and tools, such as GIS maps. These results are creases the feasibility for PV installations, allowing for grid parity
within the range of previous studies in Chile, in terms of economic almost throughout the entire continental Chile. This is considering
performance, specifically IRR [25] and potential [37]. The infor- already existing PV system prices such as the ones that Germany ex-
mation generated in this study helps understanding the possible hibits (below 2 USD/Wp for residential systems). It is expected that by
balance between large-scale and distributed PV in Chile, but further means of simulated competition (tenders) the prices will further drop,
work must be considered to improve input knowledge for decision a phenomenon that also happened in Germany, which achieved
makers/investors/developers, such as the following: below 2 USD/Wp installation prices of PV systems by the imple-
mentation of Feed-In-Tariff schemes.
● No soiling energy losses were added to the exercise (considered In the commercial sector, the results show that for almost all
in the O&M costs), an issue that is site-specific and that has been districts of Chile the IRR surpasses the reference value, evidencing
recently been studied in the country [41]. the potential. These IRRs achieved maximum values of 11% for the
342 G. Ramírez-Sagner et al. / Renewable Energy 111 (2017) 332e343
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