Supervisor

Christina Speck (christina.speck∂kit.edu)

Introduction

As rooftop solar becomes more accessible through EU policies such as RED II (Directive 2018/2001)and the Electricity Market Directive (Directive 2019/944), new design challenges emerge—particularly in renter-dominated multi-family housing. While these directives empower collective self-consumption (CSC) and energy communities [1], the rules for sharing PV-generated electricity and allocating benefits remain underspecified. One of the core barriers is the landlord–tenant dilemma: tenants often lack control over energyrelated decisions and are excluded from investment incentives [1]. Meanwhile, ownership models, allocation rules, and billing mechanisms strongly influence fairness, economic feasibility, and stakeholder engagement [2, 3]. Recent work has proposed fairness-oriented approaches for CSC design, including Shapley valuebased cost allocation [4] and optimal tariff schemes for energy communities [5]. Yet, systematic comparisons of incentive schemes and allocation rules under realistic tenant profiles remain scarce. This thesis addresses this gap by simulating different CSC design options to inform policy on equitable and efficient solar sharing in multi-family buildings.

Objectives:

• Develop a simulation or optimization model of a multi-family building with shared rooftop PV (optionally including storage), representing households with heterogeneous demand profiles.
• Implement and compare different allocation rules and incentive schemes to assess their impact on key indicators such as self-consumption rate, economic fairness, and cost savings.
• Generate policy-relevant recommendations for designing CSC schemes that balance efficiency, equity, and participation incentives.

Requirements:

Candidates should possess:

• Interest in renewable energy systems, electricity markets, or policy design.
• Basic knowledge in programming with Python.
• Analytical skills and a structured, independent working style.

Formalities:

• The thesis can be undertaken in German or English.
• Interested candidates should submit a brief letter of motivation, a CV, and a current grade transcript.
• The project is ready to commence immediately.

References:

1. C. Domenig et al. “Overcoming the landlord–tenant dilemma: A techno-economic assessment of collective self-consumption for European multi-family buildings”. In: Energy Policy 189 (2024), p. 114120.
2. M. B. Roberts, A. Bruce, and I. MacGill. “A comparison of arrangements for increasing selfconsumption and maximising the value of distributed photovoltaics on apartment buildings”. In: Solar Energy 193 (2019), pp. 372–386.
3. F. D. Minuto and A. Lanzini. “Energy-sharing mechanisms for energy community members under different asset ownership schemes and user demand profiles”. In: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 168 (2022), p. 112859.
4. R. Pedrero, P. Pisciella, and P. Granado. “Fair investment strategies in large energy communities: A scalable Shapley value approach”. In: Energy 295 (2024).
5. P. Garavaso, F. Bignucolo, et al. “Optimal Planning and Operation of a Residential Energy Community under Shared Electricity Incentives”. In: Energies 14.8 (2021), p. 2045.