Unfavourable scenario analysis of compensation mechanisms for excessenergy in self-consumption photovoltaic installations in the Spanishresidential sector

Self-consumption photovoltaic installations in the residentialsector have great potential to mitigate the emissions associatedwith the current high consumption of fossil fuels. However, fewstudies analyse the technical and economic performance of theseinstallations as a function of the electricity tariff contracted by theprosumer.This study provides a first approach to this idea, as well asanalysing an emerging tariff in the Spanish electricity market, suchas the virtual battery (solar piggy bank or net billing), which allowsthe entire bill to be offset with photovoltaic surpluses.A technical-economic analysis of a self-consumption photovoltaicinstallation connected to the grid is carried out for different peakpower values, as well as for different consumption profiles anddifferent electricity tariffs.The results show the importance of considering the prosumer'sconsumption habits, as these directly influence the performance ofthe installation. Thus, it is not possible to obtain a single optimalsolution for all cases. Among other conclusions, it was found thatfor surplus-to-consumption ratios in the range of 130-180 % andabove, the virtual battery tariff is the best economic option.