Interdisciplinary aspects of increasing the hosting capacity for photovoltaics in an Austrian context

In the context of integrating decentral renewable power generation facilities into energy systems, the term hosting capacity primarily refers to technical limitations of power grids. However, it is important to consider that technical factors are not the only barriers that may hinder the achievement of renewable expansion goals: Regulatory and economic challenges, as well as issues regarding social acceptance need to be considered accordingly. This paper provides an interdisciplinary overview of key elements that influence the achievement of national photovoltaic expansion goals in Austria. In order to create a holistic representation, multiple thematic fields are considered: technical aspects like flexibility, grid and forecasting as well as land use, social acceptance, economics and regulation. The results indicate the critical role of each thematic area. Barriers within a single field can act as bottlenecks and thus endanger the achievement of photovoltaic expansion targets. Furthermore, these thematic fields are partly interacting, which is considered in this paper as well.