Open Collections

Tynan, Sean

This document provides information regarding recent developments in small-scale residential, grid-connected photovoltaic systems. The purpose of the document is three-fold: to explore the current status and potential of these systems within the Province of British Columbia, to identify the major barriers to PV systems, and to examine the key policy interventions that would be required to bring about widespread uptake of these systems. Research was conducted primarily through a review of the literature. This information was supplemented through a market survey and interviews with key informants from both the public and private sector. The document contains two substantive findings. Firstly, there are environmental benefits (greenhouse gas reductions) that will result from the uptake of residential PV systems within the Province. Secondly, cost is by far the largest barrier to PV system uptake. A major policy intervention to rebalance the economics of PV systems in BC would be required to support their widespread adoption within the next decade. Economic interventions to directly subsidize solar PV would likely be expensive relative to other forms of renewable energy in BC, and are therefore unlikely to be justifiable at present. If the price of PV systems reduces sufficiently over time, such measures could be considered. Over the shorter term, then, policies which support PV as well as other forms of renewable energy are recommended.

Graduating Project

eng

2016-01-29

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29678

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/