Does the current electricity grid support a just energy transition? Exploring social and economic dimensions of grid capacity for residential solar photovoltaic in Sweden
Elias Hartvigsson, Emil Nyholm, Filip Johnsson
Abstract
Through the Just Energy Transition in the Green New Deal, the European Union has emphasized the importance of inequality related to the energy transition. Yet, inequalities related to the hosting capacity for residential solar PV has gotten limited attention. Using estimations of hosting capacity for residential solar PV we analyze how residential solar PV hosting capacity is distributed based on social and economic status in Sweden. We find that solar photovoltaic hosting capacity is not equally distributed and that households with a high socio-economic burden tend to have less available hosting capacity for residential solar PV than households with a low socio-economic burden. A distribution of solar photovoltaic systems that best utilizes the existing grid would therefore on average be unfavorable for households with a high socio-economically burden. These findings could present a barrier for a Just energy transition towards a climate neutral energy system, and lead to increased inequalities in cost and access to renewable energy technologies, especially for countries with lower hosting capacity levels. To reduce potential inequality in grid access, we propose that policies either support the adoption of many small solar PV systems to avoid hosting capacity issues, or support households that currently lacks physical access to the residential solar PV market by allowing investments in solar PV systems at another property.