Arbeitspapier

Installing photovoltaics in Germany: A license to print money?

Using detailed data originating from several hundred households of the German Residential Energy Survey (GRECS), this paper empirically investigates the returns on investment in home-equipped photovoltaics (PV) installations. We find that these returns were particularly high in the years 2009 to 2011, when large subsidies for solar electricity coincided with plummeting module prices. While our empirical analysis demonstrates that such investments also incur substantial risks, there is evidence that, above all, wealthy households tend to benefit from the solar subsidies, whereas the costs of financing these subsidies are borne by electricity consumers at large, not least poverty-endangered households. The resulting redistribution of financial resources raises the question of whether the burden-sharing of Germany's transition to an alternative energy system is fair.

ISBN
978-3-86788-685-7
Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: Ruhr Economic Papers ; No. 590

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Renewable Resources and Conservation: Government Policy
Alternative Energy Sources
Energy: Government Policy
Thema
solar subsidies
redistribution effects
German Residential Energy Consumption Survey

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Andor, Mark
Frondel, Manuel
Vance, Colin
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI)
(wo)
Essen
(wann)
2015

DOI
doi:10.4419/86788685
Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:42 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Andor, Mark
  • Frondel, Manuel
  • Vance, Colin
  • Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI)

Entstanden

  • 2015

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