Supporting Solar: Causal Impacts of Domestic Photovoltaic Installations | Aurélien Saussay

Aurélien Saussay will be presenting the following paper: Supporting Solar: Causal Impacts of Domestic Photovoltaic Installations.

Abstract

‘Domestic renewable energy systems have enjoyed considerable government support in Europe and the United States. Yet despite their ubiquity, non feed-in-tariff policies have received comparatively less attention in the literature. We examine the impact of the 2017 Home Energy Loan \& Grant Scheme (HELS) in Scotland using administrative data on the universe of domestic solar photovoltaic installations in the United Kingdom since 2008. Exploiting the devolved nature of renewable energy support policy in the UK, we implement a matching strategy between Scottish and English locales to provide a causal assessment of the scheme’s effectiveness. Our findings are three-fold. First, the HELS increased domestic solar photovoltaic installations. Second, the HELS’ funding ceiling biased installation sizes downward. Third, the vast majority of the HELS benefits accrued to the top three deciles by house value.’

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