ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at some of the basic issues related to business and financial interests, and their interaction with Distributed generator (DG) evaluation. It presents several cases in which the wind turbine is viewed from different business perspectives built upon this basic long-term cost and value analysis, and examines how and why business issues change the calculated value/cost balance of a DG unit. The owner or operator of a DG unit may receive a tax credit or subsidy based on the capital cost of the DG unit or on some basis related to its performance. These subsidies impact the overall evaluated price for power from the DG unit, and in some cases will alter the sensitivity of the owner’s decisions about what type of unit is best, how much it is worth to obtain higher fuel efficiency or lower maintenance costs. Very often, the perceived value of DG will be colored by the business interests of the potential owner.
