The impact of regulated charges and solar potential on cost savings from energy sharing: a statistical analysis

Abstract

Energy communities can take different measures to improve the economic savings derived from energy sharing, such as optimally aggregating members with diverse generation and load profiles or by shifting electricity demand throughout the day. Nevertheless, the magnitude of the cost savings from energy sharing are always bound by exogenous factors, such as the meteorological conditions that govern the generation from renewable energy sources and the fiscal policies and electricity tariffs, which determine the incentives to share energy with other community members. Given the lack of focus in the scientific literature on the exogenous factor, in this paper we study their impact on the cost savings in renewable energy communities composed of households with photovoltaic generators. To isolate only the impact of the exogenous factors, the cost savings of a single energy community are analysed in 37 different European countries, each with different solar potential and composition of retail electricity price. This study utilizes regression analysis to examine the impact of regulated costs, share of regulated cost in retail price, and specific solar generation as independent variables on cost savings in two distinct arrangements. By discerning their relationships, valuable insights into their influence on savings are gained. The results reveal the relationship between the regulated charges, the share of regulated charges in retail electricity prices and solar potential, on one hand, and the relative cost savings from energy sharing, on the other.