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To address sustainability challenges, photovoltaics (PV) are regarded as a promising renewable energy technology. Decreasing PV module costs and increasing residential electricity prices have made self-consumption of PV-generated electricity financially more attractive than exporting to the grid. Organic photovoltaics (OPV) are an emerging thin-film PV technology that shows promise of greatly improving the environmental and economic performances of PV technologies. Previous studies have estimated the current and future costs of OPV technologies, but the attractiveness of investing in OPV systems has not been evaluated under real market conditions, especially under PV self-consumption schemes. In this study, we investigate the self-consumption of electricity generation from conventional and organic PV systems installed at residential houses in two different countries, Denmark and Greece, under current PV regulatory frameworks. We then focus on modelling and assessing the cost-competitiveness of organic PV technologies based on cost estimations for existing pilot-scale (kW-range), and projected scale-up (100MW) and industrial-scale (100 GW) manufacturing capacity levels. Our generic results applying to all PV technologies show that PV systems installed at residential houses in Greece perform economically better than those in Denmark do in terms of self-sufficiency and gross electricity bill savings (i.e. excluding PV costs). Using the two country cases, which present very different settings, we characterise and discuss the influence of three key parameters of the economic performance of PV systems, namely the PV regulatory scheme, the solar irradiation level and the temporal match between the electricity consumption and solar irradiation profiles. Focusing on organic PV systems developed in an industrial-scale cost setting (1.53 €/Wp), we find that they deliver significant electricity bill savings for residential houses in Greece (38%) under current conditions, while they may not be sufficiently attractive for residential houses in Denmark (6.5%) due to mainly the different PV regulatory schemes. Based on these findings, we therefore recommend investors interested in renewable energy technologies to pursue scaling up the manufacturing capacity of OPV technologies, as well as assess a large number of countries to identify and prioritise financially attractive settings for PV self-consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Potential of organic PV (OPV) in residential electricity self-consumption is studied. • We perform a combined assessment of profitability and environmental impacts of OPV. • We assess cost-effectiveness of OPV systems in/excl. batteries for Greece and Denmark. • Environmental gains are strongly dependent on battery storage and grid mix composition. • We provide recommendations for future development of OPV technology and energy policy. Recent economic developments have signalled that self-consumption of photovoltaics (PV)-generated electricity could be financially more attractive than exporting it to the grid in many countries. As an emerging PV technology, organic photovoltaics (OPV) have been recognized as potential bearer of economic and environmental gains. Yet, could OPV deliver a profitable investment and environmental impact reductions in the context of residential electricity self-consumption? Here, we conduct a study of unprecedented scoping that combines both economic analysis and life cycle assessment to gauge OPV self-consumption with or without battery storage for household settings. The upscaling of OPV technologies from pilot- to industrial scale was modelled, and we used the two contrasting cases of Denmark and Greece to identify potential patterns. Our economic results indicate that the addition of battery storage is not financially viable unless battery costs are reduced by more than 10% for Greece and 30% for Denmark. Furthermore, we identify OPV cost thresholds of 0.9 €/Wp for Denmark and 1.6 €/Wp for Greece, below which OPV-battery systems are more cost-effective than OPV systems without battery. Building on the economic analysis, we find that battery storage can improve the environmental performances of OPV systems under certain conditions on the battery costs, the capacity of the cost-optimal OPV-battery system, and the environmental impacts of the battery. Furthermore, the composition of the electricity grid mix in the country studied was found to be an important factor to determine where OPV self-consumption was environmentally beneficial. These findings can support energy policy-makers in their development of energy strategies as well as OPV technology developers, who should adopt a systemic approach and integrate battery storage and the balance of system within their development phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]