Photovoltaics and the Solar Rebound: Evidence from Germany

Abstract Recent research suggests that households increase their electricity consumption after installing photovoltaic (PV) panels, a behavioral change commonly referred to as the solar rebound. Using panel data originating from German Residential Energy Consumption Survey (GRECS), we investigate existence of rebound effect. Our empirical results suggest PV adoption does not amount take grid. As derive theoretically, this implies is bounded above by about 50%, while back-of-the-envelope calculations lower bound 12% and an average 35%.