Rooftop solar PV in Bhutan: A systemic analysis of feed-in-tariff program

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are critical to the global electrification efforts, especially in the rural and remote communities of the developing countries. This study analyses the prospects of a feed-in-tariff program for solar PV systems in Bhutan. It is based on the analysis of a pilot project covering 361 households in rural areas of Bhutan. A mix of qualitative and quantitative methods is applied, which captures the multi-disciplinary variables and generates primary data from the pilot project in Bhutan. The two critical variables argued are user acceptability and financial sustainability in the long-term in the context of access to clean energy and empowerment in rural areas. From the field data assessment, it was found that the low existing energy tariff has a cybernetic effect on user acceptability and the financial sustainability of the solar PV feed-in-tariff system in Bhutan. The current tariff rate for low voltage (LV) consumers is $ 0.038/kWh whereas the solar energy generation cost ranges between $ 0.04–0.045/kWh considering the PV project life of 25 years. The findings of the study suggest that users are willing to accept the feed-in-tariff as an enabler for rural livelihood provided the tariff rate is reasonable (at least in the range $ 0.05 to 0.07/kWh) to sustain the capital investment.