Techno-economic analysis of PV-battery systems in Switzerland

This paper presents a techno-economic optimization model to analyze the economic viability of a photovoltaic battery (PVB) system for different residential customer groups in Switzerland clustered based on their annual electricity consumption, rooftop size, annual irradiation and location. The simulations for a static investment model are carried out for years 2020–2050 and a comprehensive sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate the impacts of individual parameters such as costs, load profiles, electricity prices and tariffs, etc. Results show that while combining photovoltaic (PV) with batteries already results in better net present values than PV alone for some residential customer groups today, the payback periods fluctuate between 2020 and 2035 due to the mixed effects of policy changes, costs and electricity price developments. The optimal PV and battery sizes increase over time and in 2050 the PV investment is mostly limited by the rooftop size. The economic viability of PVB system investments varies between different residential customer groups and the most attractive investment (i.e., that has the shortest payback period) is mostly accessible to residential customer groups with higher annual irradiation and electricity demand. In addition, investment decisions are highly sensitive to payback periods, future costs, electricity prices and tariff developments.