Quantative analysis of the merit order effect from pv production

Nicolas Gourvitch and Henri Gouzerh proposed a method to quantify the merit order effect in Italy for the period 2006-2012. They calculated the savings for power purchasers generated by the decrease in electricity spot market prices observed when solar PV plants feed electricity into the grid.

The overall savings amounted to more than EUR 2 Bn for the country as a whole in 2012, and were worth more than 100 EUR per MWh of PV electricity fed into the grid, underlining the social value of the power generated by PV.