Case Study of Shared Solar Applications in a Swedish Energy Community

In response to the ongoing climate crisis, the European Union has introduced a legislative package aimed at promoting clean energy initiatives. In this context, energy communities (ECs) are defined as core actors in the energy transition plan, by promoting local electricity generation, consumption, and sharing. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of ECs in Sweden, by performing a case study on a real distribution system in a Stockholm district. Solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage (ES) technologies are modeled and implemented into the system, and different scenarios are tested to identify optimal techno-economic solutions. The results indicate that self-consumption can increase up to 95%, and annual electricity costs are reduced by up to 30% compared to a case without PV generation. The analysis of the net present value (NPV) shows that collective self-consumption through shared solar applications increases the profitability of investing in PV by more than 24%.