DPV Analysis Types

There are several kinds of distributed PV (DPV) analyses and deciding which type is the most appropriate for your specific purpose can be challenging.

Each DPV analysis type asks specific question from a specific stakeholder perspective (Table 1). Analyses are not incomplete if they do not cover all stakeholder perspectives; rather, they answer exactly the question asked. Analyses can be linked and in practice are often hybridized.

Table 1. Summary of Analysis Types

Perspective	Analysis Type(s)	Examples of Analysis Questions
Solar Customer*	Individual Project Technical and Techno-Economic	What is my bill savings? When will my investment pay off?
Electric Utility	Sales Reduction and Revenue Impacts	How will my costs change? Will I recover all my costs?
Ratepayers	Tariff Impact Analysis	How are my overall rates being impacted? How will my rates be impacted?
Solar Industry	DPV Market Deployment Estimates	In which region are customers likely to adopt distributed solar?
Power System	Grid System Operational Impacts Grid System Planning Impacts Distribution System Planning Impacts	How are overall capital expenditures (CapEx) and operating expenditure (OpEx) affected? What technical impacts can be expected?
Society	Tariff Direct Subsidy Impact Analysis Jobs and Economic Development Analysis Environmental and Health Impact Analysis	What are the direct and indirect economic impacts of DPV? How will regional DPV deployment affect job growth? What are the emissions reductions associated with a certain level of DPV deployment? Can DPV deployment lead to a power plant water use reductions?

*In addition to solar customers, this type of analysis can—conceptually speaking—be undertaken from the perspective of a solar installer as well.

Pages Detailing Types of Analysis: