Science and Technology Seminar
Fahad Javed, Aman Fellow, Harvard South Asia Institute
Discussant: Afreen Siddiqi, Visiting Scholar, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Feed-in-tariffs to support solar photovoltaic (PV) cells deployment for home consumers has been one of the most actively supported policy measure across the globe for a greener, more resilient, and cost effective electric grid. However, as experience in some of the leading nations in solar PV deployment has shown, faulty tariff design may be very costly for all the stakeholders and sometimes result in detrimental outcomes. Understanding how this policy will impact the consumers and the grid operations is of significant importance. Incidentally, feed-in-tariffs are being considered and offered in different regions in developing world including South Asia. To this end in this talk we discuss how energy demand simulations based on socio-economic realities of the region can be used to evaluate the impact of feed-in-tariffs on the electric grids. Furthermore, we discuss how such simulations can aid policy makers in improving the impact of policy measures, such as tax rebates etc., through better visibility provided by simulations of consumer behavior.
Light lunch will be served.
