Social preferences for small-scale solar photovoltaic power plants in South Korea: A choice experiment study

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the South Korean government plans to expand the installation of small-scale solar photovoltaic (SPV) power plants, which do not occupy large spaces and have a smaller environmental impact than large-scale SPV power plants. This article applies a choice experiment to evaluate quantitatively the value given by people to the attributes of the installation of small-scale SPV power plants. To reflect the preference heterogeneity of South Korean people, a Bayesian estimation of a mixed-logit model is successfully performed. According to the results, South Korean people consider the electricity bill, the operating body, and the installation location as being more important than other attributes. The respondents prefer small-scale SPV power plants that are located in residential areas, have a large scale of installation, are operated by a private corporation and produce electricity for self-consumption. For these attributes, the South Korean people are willing to pay an additional electricity bill of South Korean won (KRW) 4286/month, KRW 3712/kW, KRW 2885/month and KRW 3731/month, respectively. The results provide meaningful implications regarding the aspects of installation on which the government should focus. In addition, the results can be utilized in policy making and decision making related to the installation of small-scale SPV power plants.