Quantitative analysis of distributed and centralized development of renewable energy

Global renewable energy has maintained a steady growth in recent years, mainly fostered by national policies and increasing demand. Analyzing the experience of renewable energy development in developed countries can be important to provide reference and guidance for its adoption in other countries. First, we compare and summarize definitions of distributed generation from 18 leading countries and organizations in renewable energy. On this basis, we provide three basic characteristics for successful distributed generation using renewable resources. Then, we empirically analyze the distributed and centralized development of renewable energy in Germany with focus on wind and photovoltaic power. We determined that 95% of the photovoltaic generation and 85% of the wind power generation is distributed in Germany, suggesting that the most suitable generation mode for renewable energy is the distributed approach. Keywords: Renewable energy, Development mode, Distributed generation, Centralized generation