The penetration of renewable and sustainable energy in Asia: A state-of-the-art review on net-metering

Conventional fossil-fuel energy resources are being drastically depleted; thus, the current shift towards renewable energy (RE) resources has become imperative. However, there are many impediments to the adoption of renewable power generation. These impediments can be overcome by enacting policies to encourage the acceptance of sustainable energy resources. For instance, the net-metering policy can provide the necessary incentives to promote the development of local distributed energy sources, primarily solar photovoltaic and wind generators. While there has been significant advancement and development in net-metering in Asia with the increased penetration of RE, at present there is a lack of systematic review in this area. This paper aims to present an in-depth review on net-metering advances and challenges, current RE shares, and future RE targets in the Asian region. Additionally, a case study is performed and an economic analysis of net-metering regulations in an Asian country is carried out. In this study, the monetary benefits of net-metering policies for residential consumers are proved. It is envisaged that the information gathered in this paper will be a valuable one-stop source of information for Asian researchers working on this topic.