New article on “Deployment Policy Design“ published by Environmental Research Letters
A new article addressing the question "Can designs inspired by control theory keep deployment policies effective and cost-efficient as technology prices fall?" has been published by the journal "Environmental Research Letters". The article is authored by Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Christof Knoeri, Joern Hoppmann, and Volker Hoffmann.
In the article, the authors employ an agent-based model of solar photovoltaic adoption to assess novel designs policy designs. Inspired by control-theory principles, the authors assess the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of three mechanisms based on a PID algorithm to adjust a feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic systems in Germany between 2000 and 2016. The main finding shows that Germany could have achieved a similar technology diffusion of solar PV with 12% lower policy costs – about €320 million per giga-Watt-peak installed – if it had adjusted the feed-in tariff tracking policy costs and distributing policy targets following an s-curve. This results open a new path for the design of responsive policies that could improve their effectiveness, so they meet their diffusion goals, and cost-efficient, imposing a lesser burden on public funds.