Photovoltaic techno-economical potential on roofs in regions and islands: The case of the Canary Islands. Methodological review and methodology proposal

Abstract

The Canary Islands (Spain) are highly dependent on imported oil. For 2015, the Energy Plan has established that 30% of the electricity demand will be covered by renewable energy sources, mainly wind and solar. One limitation in the Archipelago is the lack of available land. Considering both issues, land scarcity and energy goals, it is crucial to determine the photovoltaic (PV) potential on roofs. In this article, a methodology to determine the roof PV potential for small regions and/or islands is applied to the case of the Canary Islands. The results show that the potential PV production is higher than the electricity demand at competitive prices. Different scenarios depending on the use of the available roof area, economic assessment based on cost-resource curves and comparison of daily and monthly profiles (PV production versus electricity demand) have also been studied.