The global cumulative solar power generation capacity based on photovoltaic (PV) technology has grown between 2003 and 2013 from 2,82 GW to nearly 137 GW. This equals a stunning, circa fiftyfold, growth in a mere decade. At the same time, the demand for power companies’ electricity sales is expected to be reduced by 14–18 % during the next five years due to the growth of self- generated solar power, while the need for grid balancing services is increasing. This study aims to increase the understanding of the flexible energy management related business models and opportunities for households in Finland, at the same time implementing solar power generation into the equation. The primary focus will be on the hourly consumption, demand response capabilities, and solar production analysis of households in Finland, but other Southern European countries are also covered for comparison. Fundamentals of different models are studied, after which investment and sensitivity analysis are conducted with a selection of realistic scenarios. Business opportunities for households do exist in Finland, however, not yet with attractive returns. Base case analysis showed internal rates of return between -3,0 % and -1,6 % without demand response benefits, and internal rates of return between -0,8 % and 0,3 % with them. Thus, demand response had a significant positive impact on the returns of an investment through regulation trading activities and solar production self-consumption maximization. However, sensitivity analysis showed that high solar system prices coupled with low electricity prices in Finland have a huge impact on the profitability of all scenarios studied. For mature solar markets, Germany and Italy for instance, the returns for similar setups result in internal rates of return between 5,9 % and 11,7 %, which represent attractive returns compared to any other options available for household investments. In fact, a possible best case scenario for Finland also returned an appealing annual return rate of 8,6 %. In future research, actual pilot programs should be conducted and some of the models and results presented in this study should be tested for verification. Additionally, an evaluation for both technical and psychological aspects of the demand response activities should be performed.
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