Developing Distributed PV in Beijing: Deployment Potential and Economics

The building sector consumed a total of 580 million tons-coal equivalent (Mtce) terminal energy in China in 2018 including 1,888 terawatt-hours (TWh) electricity, accounting for 20.2% of total terminal energy consumption in this country. As the capital of China, Beijing is striving to improve the air quality while ensuring power and heat supply due to heavy reliance on electricity intake from other energy-rich provinces. The distributed photovoltaic, as a flexible application of renewable energy systems in urban and rural regions, can contribute to the power supply for rapid urbanization and mitigate the negative environmental impact of fossil energy use. In the context of grid parity, this article provides a systematic analysis of solar resource potential, power generation economics and policy support for the rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system in Beijing. The deployment potential of rooftop PV is estimated to be 11.47 GW and the large-scale commercial rooftop PV is approaching grid parity. Furthermore, this article discusses the feasibility of large-scale distributed PV deployment in Beijing by considering distributed electricity trade envisioned the ongoing power market reform in China.