Net metering and market feedback loops: Exploring the impact of retail rate design on distributed PV deployment

Abstract This article is concerned with the impact of economic ideas on political processes and decision-making. We argue that economic models can serve as a transmission device between economic paradigms and policy programs, which allow actors drawing on the model to exercise power in decision-making. We illustrate this argument by focusing on the European Commission’s ‘potential output’ model, which represents a core pillar of EU fiscal governance as it provides estimates of ‘structural deficits’ for evaluating fiscal policies. We combine an analysis of the history and content of the model at stake with insights derived from policy documents, legal provisions, speeches and interviews. Our findings imply that economic models (a) allow for exerting power only under specific conditions, (b) align paradigmatic priors with policy proposals and (c) may constitute mutual feedback loops where political decisions are coined by technicalities and, as a consequence, seemingly innocent technical assumptions become objects of political demands.

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Understanding Tort Reform: Strategic Actors, Public Policy, and Feedback Loops

Business and Politics ◽

10.2202/1469-3569.1050 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 5 (01) ◽

pp. 95-125

Author(s):

Mathew Shon Manweller

Keyword(s):

Feedback Loops ◽

Tort Reform ◽

Reform Policy ◽

Efficient System ◽

Effective Implementation ◽

Incentive Structures ◽

Current Reform ◽

Legal Arguments ◽

Civil Justice System ◽

The Impact

This paper discusses the problems in the effective implementation of tort reform policy, focusing on several different areas that seek to review both the fundamental problems associated with punitive damages as well as the legal arguments in favor of tort reform. The limitations against the creation of a truly efficient system lie in the fact that strategic actors have the ability to anticipate the effects of reforms, and act to create feedback loops that diffuse the impact of the reform attempt. To implement effective tort reform policy one must understand how these strategic actors behave within the civil justice system, as well as how feedback loops limit the overall effectiveness of the tort reform policy. The findings suggest that the system of “decoupling” liability is the most efficient of all the current reform attempts or proposals, while the system can also be improved by adopting policies that isolate the incentive structures of plaintiff's attorneys.

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Exploring the Space of Possibilities in Cascading Disasters with Catastrophe Dynamics

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17197317 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (19) ◽

pp. 7317

Author(s):

Arnaud Mignan ◽

Ziqi Wang

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclones ◽

Adjacency Matrix ◽

Critical Infrastructure ◽

Feedback Loops ◽

Interaction Matrix ◽

Network Failure ◽

Emergent Phenomenon ◽

Cascading Processes ◽

The Impact ◽

Business Interruption

Some of the most devastating natural events on Earth, such as earthquakes and tropical cyclones, are prone to trigger other natural events, critical infrastructure failures, and socioeconomic disruptions. Man-made disasters may have similar effects, although to a lesser degree. We investigate the space of possible interactions between 19 types of loss-generating events, first by encoding possible one-to-one interactions into an adjacency matrix A, and second by calculating the interaction matrix M of emergent chains-of-events. We first present the impact of 24 topologies of A on M to illustrate the non-trivial patterns of cascading processes, in terms of the space of possibilities covered and of interaction amplification by feedback loops. We then encode A from 29 historical cases of cascading disasters and compute the matching matrix M. We observe, subject to data incompleteness, emergent cascading behaviors in the technological and socioeconomic systems, across all possible triggers (natural or man-made); disease is also a systematic emergent phenomenon. We find interactions being mostly amplified via two events: network failure and business interruption, the two events with the highest in-degree and betweenness centralities. This analysis demonstrates how cascading disasters grow in and cross over natural, technological, and socioeconomic systems.

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A Quadratically Constrained Optimization Problem for Determining the Optimal Nominal Power of a PV System in Net-Metering Model: A Case Study for Croatia

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14061746 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 1746

Author(s):

Luka Budin ◽

Goran Grdenić ◽

Marko Delimar

Keyword(s):

Optimization Problem ◽

Net Present Value ◽

Electrical Energy ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Discrete Optimization Problem ◽

Pv System ◽

Net Metering ◽

Quadratically Constrained ◽

The Impact

The world’s demand for electrical energy is increasing rapidly while the use of fossil fuels is getting limited more and more by energy policies and the need for reducing the impact of climate change. New sources of energy are required to fulfill the world’s demand for electricity and they are currently found in renewable sources of energy, especially in solar and wind power. Choosing the optimal PV nominal power minimizes the unnecessary surplus of electrical energy that is exported to the grid and thus is not making any impact on the grid more than necessary. Oversizing the PV system according to the Croatian net-metering model results in switching the calculation of the costs to the prosumer model which results in a decrease of the project’s net present value (NPV) and an increase in the payback period (PP). This paper focuses on formulating and solving the optimization problem for determining the optimal nominal power of a grid-connected PV system with a case study for Croatia using multiple scenarios in the variability of electricity production and consumption. In this paper, PV systems are simulated in the power range that corresponds to a typical annual high-tariff consumption in Croatian households. Choosing the optimal power of the PV system maximizes the investor’s NPV of the project as well as savings on the electricity costs. The PP is also minimized and is determined by the PV production, household consumption, discount rate, and geographic location. The optimization problem is classified as a quadratically constrained discrete optimization problem, where the value of the optimal PV power is not a continuous variable because the PV power changes with a step of one PV panel power. Modeling and simulations are implemented in Python using the Gurobi optimization solver.

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The impact of mobile phone use on farmers’ livelihoods in post-insurgency Northeast Nigeria

Information Development ◽

10.1177/0266666919886904 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 026666691988690 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chioma Anadozie ◽

Mathias Fonkam ◽

Jean-Paul Cleron ◽

Muhammadou MO Kah

Keyword(s):

Mobile Phone ◽

Mobile Phones ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Feedback Loops ◽

Information And Communications Technology ◽

Mobile Phone Use ◽

Complex Interactions ◽

Sustainable Livelihoods Framework ◽

The Impact ◽

Northeast Nigeria

The most ubiquitous information and communications technology (ICT) in the hands of the common man today is the mobile phone. Most existing literature on the impact of mobile phones in farming has examined the various components of the farming cycle in isolation, and failed to holistically account for the complex interactions and relationships between these components. In this study, we combine the strengths of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) and Systems Theory (ST) as a theoretical lens to understand the impact of mobile phone use in farming and its developmental contributions on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in post-insurgency northeast Nigeria. On the basis of empirical data and literature, we develop a qualitative system dynamics model depicting mobile phone use in farming. The main feedback loops show that the greatest bane to farming in the area is insecurity and climate variability. However, better access to information and communications afforded by mobile phones empowers farmers and enables them to overcome these vulnerabilities. The use of feedback loops in analysis provides rigour and depth to the findings due to their ability to demonstrate the interdependencies between system components. We contribute to knowledge and inform practice by extending the understanding of the impact of mobile phone use in farming through system dynmics modelling.

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Net-Metering vs. Net-Billing from the Investors Perspective—Impacts of Changes in RES Financing in Poland on the Profitability of a Joint Photovoltaic Panels and Heat Pump System

Energies ◽

10.3390/en15010227 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 227

Author(s):

Mariusz Trela ◽

Anna Dubel

Keyword(s):

Natural Gas ◽

Heat Pump ◽

Net Present Value ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Pump System ◽

Heat Pump System ◽

Photovoltaic Panels ◽

Profitability Analysis ◽

Net Metering ◽

The Impact

The paper explores the impacts of changes in renewable energy sources (RES) financing in Poland on the profitability of coupled photovoltaic panels and heat pump systems. The profitability analysis is conducted with the use of Net Present Value calculation and the return on investment period. The degree of change in profitability of using photovoltaic panels in Poland is dependent on the method of their financing. The analysis is carried out for two different photovoltaic support schemes: (1) the net-metering scheme currently in force in Poland; (2) the net-billing system scheduled for implementation in the year 2022. It is assumed for the analysis that two alternative heating and electricity supply systems for a single-family building will be operated: (a) a standard solution used in Poland consisting of a natural gas-fired boiler for heating and the purchase of electricity from the power grid, (b) an air/water heat pump used to heat the building, and electricity obtained from photovoltaic panels, also used to power the heat pump. A sensitivity analysis is carried out, examining the impact of several key parameters relevant for the profitability of such investments, such as average annual increase in the purchasing or selling prices of electricity, purchasing prices of natural gas, and inflation rate. The conclusions concern the possible consequences of introducing a new support scheme for photovoltaics in Poland. The highest profitability of all considered solutions is for the current scenario for heat pump and pv installation with the capacity to meet the demand in the last year of operation. The introduction of changes in the new RES law (2021) in Poland will reduce the profitability of investments in pv panels, leading to a slowdown in the investments in the pv installations.

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The Impact of Market Orientation on Business Performance: Evidence from a Developing Country

Malaysian Management Journal ◽

10.32890/mmj.11.1-2.2007.8945 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sany Sanuri Mohd. Mokhtar ◽

Rushami Zien Yusoff

Keyword(s):

Market Orientation ◽

Developing Country ◽

Business Performance ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Simple Random Sampling ◽

Sampling Procedure ◽

Market Focus ◽

Market Feedback ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between market orientation and business performance. Hypothesis concerning the relationship between market orientation and business performance were posited and tested. Data were collected using a mail questionnaire survey approach. This study employed a simple random sampling procedure in selecting the organisations for inclusion in the sample. A total of 158 Malaysian manufacturing organisations participated in this study. Factor analysis, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression methods of data analysis were utilised for hypotheses testing. The results revealed that market focus, market action, market planning, market feedback, and market coordination jointly explained 32.6% of the variance of business performance. Market focus and market coordination were found to have statistically significant association with business performance. The outcome of this study provides vital information from a developing country perspective on the impact of market orientation practices on manufacturing organisations’ performance.

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