The Economics of Rooftop Solar in Mexico
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) used its System Advisor Model (SAM) to explore the economics of distributed solar photovoltaics (DPV) for rooftops in Mexico.
The Mexican government aims to produce more than one-third of its electricity from clean energy over the next 5 years and cut carbon emissions by 22% in the next 12 years. Mexico’s 2015 Energy Transition Law established a legal framework for advancing its clean energy and climate goals and fertile ground for growing its emerging clean distributed generation (DG) market.
But to foster that growth in an inclusive and equitable way that serves investors, ratepayers, utilities, and society, the Mexican government needed hard data to answer tough questions.
Mexico Taps into Science-Based Decision Support
Seeking credible, science-based analysis to inform critical regulatory and policy decisions around rooftop solar, the Mexican government turned to the USAID-NREL Partnership.
NREL had SAM—the right tool for the job. In 2016, the NREL team used SAM to explore the economics of distributed solar photovoltaics in Mexico. Learn more about SAM.
Modeling Compares Compensation Schemes, Quantifies Benefits
The first analysis, conducted with the Energy Regulatory Commission of Mexico (CRE), modeled how three proposed changes to solar distributed generation metering and billing would impact ratepayers. Mexico’s Secretariat of Energy (SENER) led the second analysis in close collaboration with NREL. This analysis compared the benefits of residential solar distributed generation and energy efficiency for individual customers, the Mexican Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit, and the environment.
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