Research on the behavioral mechanisms of rural distributed photovoltaic development: A view of prosumer perspective

As global energy transitions accelerate, distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems are emerging as a key driver for rural energy transformation. However, their adoption faces challenges such as low household electricity demand, limited grid capacity, and complex stakeholder dynamics. This study employs game theory to develop a multi-agent dynamic model involving village organization, PV enterprise, grid company, and rural households, examining their behavioral mechanisms and strategic choices. Scenario simulations reveal that: (1) Collaboration between PV enterprise and village organization to promote the surplus electricity feed-in model is more effective in expanding distributed PV adoption. Low-demand households prefer full feed-in model, while high-demand households favor surplus electricity feed-in model. (2) Overpromoting surplus electricity feed-in model may lead to curtailment issues. Increasing self-consumption can reduce curtailment but may limit installed distributed PV capacity. (3) Rising incomes can encourage more rural households to invest in the surplus electricity feed-in model, but grid capacity constraints will lead to low investment efficiency in distributed PV systems. These findings recommend tailored policies, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and grid capacity-based self-consumption ratios to optimize rural distributed PV development.