Residential PV in The Netherlands - Collective purchase of small-scale grid-connected PV systems: Analysis, impact and lessons

Abstract

Compared to its neighboring countries, The Netherlands lags far behind in capacity of installed PV systems. A popular way for private customers to buy a residential PV system nowadays is the collective purchase. In this way, a price reduction can be achieved by bundling customers, and the hassle of selecting a suitable system and installation company is taken out of the hands of the customer. This report explores these collective purchases. A theoretical section on PV and in particular residential PV provides the necessary background, after which two collective purchases are analyzed: 5576 applications for a PV system resulted in 3675 orders with a combined power rating of 10.1 MWp, and an average projected performance ratio of 0.8, while a price reduction for customers of 11-33% was achieved. The process of this collective purchase as well as details of the customers, their applications and orders is analyzed. A distinction is made between tilted and flat roofs. The impact on household scale for the average participant was a reduction of 50% of the electricity bill (50% of electricity consumed will be produced by the newly acquired solar system). Combined, the solar systems sold during the two collective purchases are projected to produce 187.7 GWh of electricity over the next 25 years.