Grid Parity Analysis for Low Power Photovoltaic Systems in Santa Fe (Argentina)

In this work, an analysis of grid parity for residential and commercial photovoltaic generators in an important city of Argentina is presented. The analysis includes installation costs, levelized costs of photovoltaic energy, grid electricity price and incentive programs that promote the insertions of those generators in low demand users. A specific analysis on the economic viability of low power photovoltaic systems is conducted at Santa Fe, the first city of Argentina that has implemented technical (in 2013) and economical (in 2015) regulations to promote renewable generation. Although the installation of photovoltaic distributed generation implies important energy benefits for small users, the results show that the grid parity is still a challenge for these systems. The main causes are the difficulty of small users to access soft loans as well as the subsidized price of electricity.