Comments on “Economic analysis of different supporting policies for the production of electrical energy by solar photovoltaics in western European Union countries” by Luigi Dusonchet and Enrico Telaretti

In Energy Policy, 38 (7) 3297–3308, Dusonchet and Telaretti contribute a significant deal to the field of PV comparative policy analysis in the EU by addressing the impact of the PV regulatory framework on the investment decisions of the sector—as determined by net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) indices—in seventeen Western EU countries. As a necessary first step, the authors bring off a concise and straightforward analysis of the different legal frameworks ruling solar PVS implementation in those countries. In the specific case of Spain we have identified some imprecision that could lead to misunderstandings about the role and impact of the PV legal framework on the massive expansion of the sector, especially during the so-called “Spanish PV Boom”. This note is intended to add on the authorsʹ primary and challenging effort to provide a systematic analysis of the Spanish PV sector by contextualizing this period of hype and, on the basis of this analysis, contribute our own understanding about how the complexity and uncertainties generated by the successive frameworks might have triggered such a frenzied response by the market. Abbreviations PV, photovoltaic; NPV, net present value; IRR, internal rate of return; PVS, photovoltaic system; SR, special regime; FIT, feed-in tariff; RD, Royal Decree; MITyC, Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce; RDL, Royal Decree Law; AET, average electricity tariff; CNE, National Energy Commission; GCPVS, grid-connected photoltaic system; RIPRE, special regime power plants register; FHEPMP, final hourly electricity production market price