Estimating the Economic Impacts of Net Metering Schemes for Residential PV Systems with Profiling of Power Demand, Generation, and Market Prices

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The article analyses the influence of supporting scheme variants on the profitability of a projected investment of residential photovoltaic systems. The focus of the paper lies in the feasibility evaluation of solar power generation technologies for the power system to achieve the balance of energy generation and support costs in a more efficient way. Here are some comments.

(1) Line 258 has some linkage missing.

(2) Defination of random number Wi and its distribution needs to be specificd.

(3) Is Fig 4 the regular Monte Carlo procedure? Need to explain why you address this or what the uniqueness of your algorithm is.

(4) The significant contribution of this study is not clear. What's the research gap you solve?

Author Response

1.     Line 258 has some linkage missing.

Authors’ comment: It is corrected, the error was deleted. Please check line 311 now.

2.     Definition of random number Wi and its distribution needs to be specified.

Authors’ comment: The definition of random number Wi was added (line 326) and the use of the Monte-Carlo method was explained (lines 321-324).

3.     Is Fig 4 the regular Monte Carlo procedure? Need to explain why you address this or what the uniqueness of your algorithm is.

Authors’ comment: The uniqueness of the algorithm, which is based on the Monte-Carlo method (Figure 4), has been explained (lines 328-332). Figure 4 was corrected as well (the first block).

4.     The significant contribution of this study is not clear. What's the research gap you solve?

Authors’ comment: The contribution of the paper has been added and explained in lines 155-158. 

Reviewer 2 Report

The article is well written and the problem discussed in this paper is interesting, but I think that some minor improvements are necessary.

The weaknesses include:

Please emphasize what is the goal of this article.

Please in two – three points (bullets) stress out what is the main contribution of this article.

There is no Literature Review part. I would suggest to add at least a paragraph where the topic of electricity peak forecasting and pattern recognition is discussed (because all these topics are strictly connected). I suggest also to add the following citations:

Gajowniczek K.,Nafkha R., Ząbkowski T. (2017) Electricity peak demand classification with artificial neural networks, Annals of Computer Science and Information Systems 11,,pp. 307-315.

Singh, S.; Yassine, A. Big Data Mining of Energy Time Series for Behavioral
Analytics and Energy Consumption Forecasting. Energies 2018, 11, 452.

Ząbkowski T., Gajowniczek K. Szupiluk R. (2015) Grade analysis for energy usage patterns segmentation based on smart meter data, In Cybernetics (CYBCONF), 2015 IEEE 2nd International Conference on, pp. 234-239.

There are some spaces between words. Some missing brackets, dots, references, commas and different fonts.

Author Response

1.     Please emphasize what is the goal of this article.

Authors’ comment: The main goal is emphasized and can be found in line 107.

2.     Please in two – three points (bullets) stress out what is the main contribution of this article.

Authors’ comment: The contribution of the paper has been added and explained in lines 155-158.

3.     There is no Literature Review part. I would suggest to add at least a paragraph where the topic of electricity peak forecasting and pattern recognition is discussed (because all these topics are strictly connected). I suggest also to add the following citations:

·       Gajowniczek K.,Nafkha R., Ząbkowski T. (2017) Electricity peak demand classification with artificial neural networks, Annals of Computer Science and Information Systems 11,pp. 307-315.

Authors’ comment: The citation has been added in the reference list as No. 38. In the text it is mentioned in line 227.

·       Singh, S.; Yassine, A. Big Data Mining of Energy Time Series for Behavioral Analytics and Energy Consumption Forecasting. Energies 2018, 11, 452.

Authors’ comment: The citation has been added in the reference list as No. 42. In the text it is mentioned in line 306.

·       Ząbkowski T., Gajowniczek K. Szupiluk R. (2015) Grade analysis for energy usage patterns segmentation based on smart meter data, In Cybernetics (CYBCONF), 2015 IEEE 2nd International Conference on, pp. 234-239.

Authors’ comment: The citation has been added in the reference list as No. 39. In the text it is mentioned in line 306.

Reviewer 3 Report

The topic is interesting and it is adapt to this journal. The collaboration among several faculties is useful. However, while the presentation is nice in shape, there are comments and/or suggestions to improve the manuscript.

--The following structure would be preferable based on the Energies Microsoft Word template file: 1. Introduction (1.1, 1.2, 1.3.), 2. Materials and Methods (2.1, 2.2., 2.3.), 3. Results and Discussion (3.1, 3.2, 3.3), 4. Conclusions. These sections mixed in the text.

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies/instructions

--Clarify better the innovation of this work in the abstract and in the main text.

--In the introduction a photovoltaic electricity potential map would be necessary:

https://solargis.com/maps-and-gis-data/download/world

https://solargis.com/maps-and-gis-data/download/latvia

--What is the role of this topic in literature and in international context? Please add more references and information’s in the article because the number of scientific references is low.  (first general information, then specific). For example:

* 2020 goals, energy efficiency, future, weather dependence, more information about PV technologies, flexible storage solutions and other FiT systems: 

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/6/1445

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/4/790/htm

http://www.res-legal.eu/search-by-country/latvia/

-p2-3. 79-114 (2.1. Overview of support schemes); p8-9 (2.5. The peculiarities of the Latvian power system)

--These parts are introductions.

-p7. 258: ‘the basis of RtError! Reference source not found.:’

--Please correct the reference

-PV panel words.

--Are you thinking PV module? The PV panel word is inappropriate. Suitable for example: PV modules, photovoltaic modules, solar PV modules, etc. The ‘solar panel’ means different. Please check the entire text. Easier to understand here:

http://www.samlexsolar.com/learning-center/solar-cell-module-array.aspx

http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/consumer/solar_electricity/basics/cells_modules_arrays.htm

--Is the Latvia feed-in tariff system a good construction from a business perspective? 

--Extend the conclusion with general usability.

Author Response

1.     The following structure would be preferable based on the Energies Microsoft Word template file: 1. Introduction (1.1, 1.2, 1.3.), 2. Materials and Methods (2.1, 2.2., 2.3.), 3. Results and Discussion (3.1, 3.2, 3.3), 4. Conclusions. These sections mixed in the text.

Authors’ comment: The former sections 2.1. and 2.5. have been moved to the introduction. Please view lines 51-84 and 123-148. The conclusions have been adjusted and supplemented (lines 508-523).

2.     Clarify better the innovation of this work in the abstract and in the main text.

Authors’ comment: The contribution of the paper has been added and explained in the main text in lines 155-158, in the abstract — in lines 18-20.

3.     In the introduction a photovoltaic electricity potential map would be necessary:

https://solargis.com/maps-and-gis-data/download/world

Authors’ comment: In the text, it is mentioned in lines 122-123 and added in the reference list as No. 28.

4.     Please add more references and information’s in the article because the number of scientific references is low.  (first general information, then specific). For example: * 2020 goals, energy efficiency, future, weather dependence, more information about PV technologies, flexible storage solutions and other FiT systems.

Authors’ comment: The information about Latvia has been adjusted and supplemented in the main text (Lines 85-106) as well as in the reference list, as No. 25–27. The citations about 2020 goals, energy efficiency, PV technologies and FiT systems have been adjusted and supplemented in the reference list as No. 2, 3, 5, 7, 18, 19.

5.     p2-3. 79-114 (2.1. Overview of support schemes); p8-9 (2.5. The peculiarities of the Latvian power system). These parts are introductions.

Authors’ comment: The former sections 2.1. and 2.5. have been mooved to the introduction. Please view lines 51-84 and 123-148.

6.     p7. 258: ‘the basis of RtError! Reference source not found:’. Please correct the reference.

Authors’ comment: It has been corrected, the error was deleted. Please check line 311 now.

7.     Are you thinking PV module? The PV panel word is inappropriate. Suitable for example: PV modules, photovoltaic modules, solar PV modules, etc. The ‘solar panel’ means different. Please check the entire text.

Authors’ comment: It has been corrected in the text as PV technology.

8.     Is the Latvia feed-in tariff system a good construction from a business perspective?

Authors’ comment: In Latvia FiT is not currently applied for supporting microgenerators.

9.     Extend the conclusion with general usability.

Authors’ comment: The conclusions have been adjusted and supplemented (lines 508-523).

Reviewer 4 Report

The paper deals with very actual issues and presents interesting results however the input of paper in terms of methodologies and models needs more clarification. In general the methodology needs more solid background and theoretical framework. There are no conclusions in this paper. This section is necessary for scientific paper. Introduction also needs to provide more solid background and references for revealing the main scientific problem the paper deals with. The paper needs revision by incorporating  these missing issues.

Author Response

Authors’ comment: All the comments have been taken into account and corrected. The conclusions have been adjusted and supplemented (lines 508-523). The information about Latvia has been adjusted and supplemented in the main text (lines 85-106) as well as in the reference list as No. 25–27. The citations about the 2020 goals, energy efficiency, PV technologies and FiT systems have been adjusted and supplemented in reference list as No. 2, 3, 5, 7, 18, 19. The contribution of the paper has been added and explained in the main text in lines 155-158, in the abstract — in lines 18-20.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

I don't have further questions.

Reviewer 2 Report

The article has greatly improved. Good job.

Reviewer 3 Report

This revised manuscript has addressed all my previous concerns. Therefore, I recommend that this paper in its current form is acceptable to the journal. 

Reviewer 4 Report

The authors have revised paper and integrated all comments and requirements. The paper is now significantly improved and can be published in current form.