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Dr Mike Roberts

Dr Mike Roberts

Senior Lecturer

PhD (Renewable Energy Engineering) - UNSW Sydney, 2019

BSc Physics (1st Class Hons) - University of Manchester (UK), 1987

Post Graduate Certificate of Education - Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), 1989

Engineering
Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering

I am a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering (SPREE) and Research Co-ordinator at the Collaboration on Energy and Environmental Markets (CEEM)

My research is focused on increasing deployment and integration of distributed renewable energy generation into the electricity system and includes technical and economic data analysis, qualitative user research and policy approaches for a user-centred energy transition. Particular interests include distributed photovoltaics, demand response, home energy management and energy user behaviours, domestic and community energy storage, Virtual Power Plants, embedded networks and mini-grids, solar potential assessment, electric vehicles, energy resilience and community renewable energy.

Phone
02 9065 0400
E-mail
m.roberts@unsw.edu.au
  • Books | 1996
    Roberts M; Callaway MP; Hulse P, 1996, Key Questions in Radiology, CRC Press
  • Book Chapters | 2019
    Kuch D; Stringer N; Marshall L; Young S; Roberts M; Macgill I; Bruce A; Passey R, 2019, 'An Energy Data Manifesto', in Good Data, Institute of Networked Cultures, Amsterdam, pp. 77 - 93, http://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/tod-29-good-data/
  • Journal articles | 2025
    Samarakoon S; Roberts M; McConnell D; Kallmier E; MacGill I; Bruce A, 2025, 'The right time for real-time? Stakeholder perspectives on the role of temporal matching in renewable energy procurement in Australia', Energy Research and Social Science, 124, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104059
    Journal articles | 2023
    Roberts MB; Adams SM; Kuch D, 2023, 'Social license to automate batteries? Australian householder conditions for participation in Virtual Power Plants', Energy Research and Social Science, 104, pp. 103241, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103241
    Journal articles | 2022
    Heslop S; Yildiz B; Roberts M; Chen D; Lau T; Naderi S; Bruce A; MacGill I; Egan R, 2022, 'A Novel Temperature-Independent Model for Estimating the Cooling Energy in Residential Homes for Pre-Cooling and Solar Pre-Cooling', Energies, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en15239257
    Journal articles | 2022
    Rispler J; Roberts M; Bruce A, 2022, 'A change in the air? The role of offshore wind in Australia's transition to a 100 % renewable grid', Electricity Journal, 35, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2022.107190
    Journal articles | 2022
    Roberts M; Sharma A; Macgill I, 2022, 'Efficient, effective and fair allocation of costs and benefits in residential energy communities deploying shared photovoltaics', Applied Energy, 305, pp. 117935, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117935
    Journal articles | 2021
    Fina B; Roberts MB; Auer H; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2021, 'Exogenous influences on deployment and profitability of photovoltaics for self-consumption in multi-apartment buildings in Australia and Austria', Applied Energy, 283, pp. 116309, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116309
    Journal articles | 2021
    Yildiz B; Bilbao JI; Roberts M; Heslop S; Dore J; Bruce A; MacGill I; Egan RJ; Sproul AB, 2021, 'Analysis of electricity consumption and thermal storage of domestic electric water heating systems to utilize excess PV generation', Energy, 235, pp. 121325, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2021.121325
    Journal articles | 2021
    Yildiz B; Roberts M; Bilbao JI; Heslop S; Bruce A; Dore J; MacGill I; Egan RJ; Sproul AB, 2021, 'Assessment of control tools for utilizing excess distributed photovoltaic generation in domestic electric water heating systems', Applied Energy, 300, pp. 117411 - 117411, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117411
    Journal articles | 2019
    Roberts M; Bruce A; Macgill I, 2019, 'Opportunities and barriers for photovoltaics on multi-unit residential buildings: Reviewing the Australian experience', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 104, pp. 95 - 110, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.12.013
    Journal articles | 2019
    Roberts MB; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2019, 'A comparison of arrangements for increasing self-consumption and maximising the value of distributed photovoltaics on apartment buildings', Solar Energy, 193, pp. 372 - 386, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2019.09.067
    Journal articles | 2019
    Roberts MB; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2019, 'Impact of shared battery energy storage systems on photovoltaic self-consumption and electricity bills in apartment buildings', Applied Energy, 245, pp. 78 - 95, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.04.001
    Journal articles | 2019
    Roberts MB; Haghdadi N; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2019, 'Characterisation of Australian apartment electricity demand and its implications for low-carbon cities', Energy, 180, pp. 242 - 257, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.04.222
  • Other | 2024
    Alexander D; Passey R; Yildiz B; Roberts M; Prakash A; Heslop S; McConnell D; Macgill I; Bruce A, 2024, UNSW Submission to AEMC Pricing Review: electricity pricing for a consumer-driven future
    Reports | 2024
    Fletcher J; Roche D; Christopher T; Roberts M; Yildiz B; Heslop S, 2024, Consumer Enegy Strategy 2024 - Stakeholder Consultation by NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub Electrification & Energy Systems Network, https://unsw.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/NSWDecarbInnovationHub/ERVyOLggBqNNm7Ayar7rWc8B4Sfi5hWYn1tLCjgqm0jI8g?e=BnYeBM&wdLOR=c1A42B376-A8A4-1D49-82C8-FE7FEF37E894
    Conference Papers | 2024
    Shakiba A; Prasad A; Wright B; Nourbakhsh N; Roberts M; Hameiri Z, 2024, 'Assessing degradation trends of residential photovoltaic systems and their drivers across Australia', Numazu, Japan, presented at 35th International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference, Numazu, Japan, 10 November 2024
    Conference Papers | 2024
    Shakiba A; Prasad A; Wright B; Nourbakhsh N; Roberts M; Hameiri Z, 2024, 'Regional driving factors of degradation in Australian residential photovoltaic systems: A performance loss analysis', Sydney, Australia, presented at Asia-Pacific Solar Research Conference, Sydney, Australia, 03 December 2024
    Reports | 2023
    Roberts M; Adams S; Samarakoon S; Kallmier E; Dillon M; Szczepaniak R; Passey R; Bruce A; Macgill I; Egan R; Kuch D, 2023, Energy resilience in bushfires and extreme weather events: Final report of the ESKIES project, https://energy-resilience.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ESKIES-Report-2023-08-17.pdf
    Other | 2023
    Roberts M; Samarakoon S; Adams S, 2023, Guide to back-up power options for resilient households, https://energy-resilience.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DER-Resilience-Guide-2023-8-9_c-full.pdf
    Reports | 2023
    Roberts M, 2023, Engaging households in electricity flexibility – insights from the UK, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/rg.2.2.18333.59365, https://energyconsumersaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Engaging-households-in-electricity-flexibility-insights-from-the-UK-31-01-2023.pdf
    Conference Abstracts | 2022
    Johnson L; Roberts M; Bruce A; Heslop S, 2022, 'Impact of input error on PV system simulation under partial shading conditions', in Proceedings of the Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference 2022, Newcastle, NSW, presented at Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference, Newcastle, NSW
    Conference Abstracts | 2022
    Kallmier E; Bruce A; Roberts M; Haghdadi N, 2022, 'Impact of tariffs and system costs on optimal PV system size', in Proceedings of the Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference 2022, Newcastle, NSW, presented at Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference, Newcastle, NSW
    Conference Abstracts | 2022
    Rahimpour Z; Haghdadi N; Roberts M; Nourbakhsh N; Bruce A, 2022, 'Generating synthetic residential electricity load profiles using household characteristics', in Proceedings of the Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference 2022, Newcastle, presented at Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference, Newcastle
    Reports | 2022
    Roberts M; Abdullah-Vetter Z; Dennis P; Bruce A; Egan R, 2022, Solar Potential of Australian Social Housing Stock, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/28351, https://apvi.org.au/solar-potential-of-australian-social-housing-stock/
    Reports | 2021
    Abdullah-Vetter Z; Dehghanimadvar M; Nair S; Roberts M; Bruce A, 2021, Powering a sporting nation: Rooftop solar potential for AFL, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/28026
    Reports | 2021
    Abdullah-Vetter Z; Dehghanimadvar M; Nair S; Roberts M; Bruce A, 2021, Powering a sporting nation: Rooftop solar potential for Australian soccer, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/28022
    Reports | 2021
    Abdullah-Vetter Z; Ramsden C; Nair S; Dehghanimadvar M; Roberts M; Bruce A, 2021, Powering a sporting nation: Rooftop solar potential of Australian cricket, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/28025
    Reports | 2021
    Roberts M; Passey R; Adams S, 2021, Rewarding flexible demand: Customer friendly cost-reflective tariffs and incentives (H4 Opportunity Assesment), RACE for 2030, https://www.racefor2030.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/H4-Report-At-a-Glance_17.11.12.pdf
    Conference Papers | 2020
    Jager-Waldau A; Adinolfi G; Batlle A; Braun M; Bucher C; Detollenaere A; Frederiksen KHB; Graditi G; Guerrero Lemus R; Lindahl J; Heilscher G; Kraiczy M; Masson G; Mather B; Mayr C; Moneta D; Mugnier D; Nikoletatos J; Neubourg G; Platt G; Reinders A; Roberts MB; Ueda Y, 2020, 'Self-consumption of electricity produced with photovoltaic systems in apartment buildings - Update of the situation in various IEA PVPS countries', in 2020 47TH IEEE PHOTOVOLTAIC SPECIALISTS CONFERENCE (PVSC), IEEE, ELECTR NETWORK, pp. 938 - 950, presented at 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), ELECTR NETWORK, 15 June 2020 - 21 August 2020, https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000653077100228&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=891bb5ab6ba270e68a29b250adbe88d1
    Conference Papers | 2020
    Jäger-Waldau A; Adinolfi G; Batlle A; Braun M; Bucher C; Roberts M, 2020, 'Self-consumption of electricity produced with photovoltaic systems in apartment buildings - Update of the situation in various IEA PVPS countries', in roceedings of the IEEE PVSC-47, 15 June – 21 August, 2020 Virtual Meeting, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Virtual Meeting, pp. 0938 - 0950, presented at IEEE PVSC-47, Virtual Meeting, 15 June 2020 - 21 August 2020, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/PVSC45281.2020.9300442
    Reports | 2020
    Roberts M; Adams S; Kuch D, 2020, VPP User Research - Final Report
    Reports | 2020
    Roberts M; Heywood P; Ramsden C; Nair S; Abdullah-Vetter Z; McCoy B; Nicholls A; Caton E; Copper J; Bruce A, 2020, Sunny side up: how schools, prisons and libraries can power Queensland’s renewable future, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.20897.22880
    Reports | 2020
    Roberts M, 2020, Smart Home Energy Management Systems User Needs Report, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16979.40488
    Other | 2020
    Stringer N; Bruce A; Roberts M; Adams S; Macgill I; Purnell K; Zhou H, 2020, Submission to the AER consultation paper: Assessing DER integration expenditure, https://www.aer.gov.au/system/files/Centre%20for%20Energy%20and%20Environmental%20Markets%20-%20Submission%20to%20AER%20assessing%20distributed%20energy%20resources%20integration%20expenditure%20-%20January%202020.pdf
    Conference Papers | 2019
    Heslop S; Roberts M; Yildiz B; Bruce A; Egan R; Macgill I, 2019, 'A characterisation of air conditioning consumption in Australia’s eastern capitals', in Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference 2019, Australian PV Institute, Canberra, presented at Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference, Canberra, 03 December 2019, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/27605
    Conference Papers | 2019
    Jäger-Waldau A; Adinolfi A; Batlle A; Braun M; Bucher C; Detollenaere A; Frederiksen K; Graditi G; Lemus RG; Lindahl J; Heilscher G; Kraiczy M; Masson G; Mather B; Mayr C; Moneta D; Mugnier D; Nikoletatos J; Neubourg G; Platt G; Roberts MB, 2019, 'Electricity produced from photovoltaic systems in apartment buildings and self-consumption - Comparison of the situation in various IEA PVPS countries', in Conference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Chicago, USA, pp. 1701 - 1710, presented at IEEE PVSC-46At, Chicago, USA, 24 June 2019 - 21 June 2019, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/PVSC40753.2019.8980484
    Reports | 2019
    Roberts M; Bruce A; Macgill I; Copper J; Haghdadi N, 2019, Photovoltaics on Apartment Buildings, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.19099.11042/1
    Reports | 2019
    Roberts M; Copper J; Bruce A; Barton T; Hu R, 2019, Spatial Analysis of Solar Potential in Perth, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.25504.61445
    Reports | 2019
    Roberts M; Nagrath K; Briggs C; Copper J; Bruce A; Mckibben J, 2019, How much Rooftop Solar can be Installed in Australia? Report for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Property Council of Australia, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.25871.02722, http://apvi.org.au/http/apviorgau/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/isf-rooftop-solar-potential-report-final-.pdf
    Theses / Dissertations | 2019
    Roberts M, 2019, The value of co-operation: Opportunities for deployment of rooftop photovoltaics on Australian apartment buildings, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10457.67682
    Preprints | 2019
    Roberts MB; Haghdadi N; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2019, Cluster-based characterisation of Australian apartment electricity demand and its implications for low-carbon cities, http://dx.doi.org/10.31224/osf.io/2aurb
    Conference Papers | 2019
    Sharma A; Roberts M; Macgill I, 2019, 'Analyzing Economic Benefits of Installing Rooftop PV on Real Apartment Buildings', in Proceedings of Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference 2019, Canberra, presented at Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference 2019, Canberra, 03 December 2019 - 05 December 2019, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/27569
    Reports | 2018
    Copper J; Roberts M; Bruce A, 2018, Spatial Analysis of Solar Potential in Adelaide, Australian Photovoltaic Institute, http://apvi.org.au/spatial-analysis-of-solar-potential-in-adelaid/
    Reports | 2018
    Copper J; Roberts M; Bruce A, 2018, Spatial Analysis of Solar Potential in Canberra
    Conference Papers | 2018
    Jäger-Waldau A; Bucher C; Frederiksen KHB; Massone G; Guerro-Lemus R; Mather B; May C; Nikoletatos J; Moneta D; Roberts M, 2018, 'Self-consumption of electricity produced from PV systems in apartment buildings - Comparison of the situation in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the USA', in 2018 IEEE 7th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC) (A Joint Conference of 45th IEEE PVSC, 28th PVSEC & 34th EU PVSEC), IEEE, Waikaloa Village, HI, USA, pp. 1424 - 1430, presented at The 7th World Conference on Photovoltaic Power Conversion, Waikaloa Village, HI, USA, 10 June 2018 - 15 June 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2018.8547583
    Conference Papers | 2018
    Roberts M; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2018, 'Collective Prosumerism: Accessing the Potential of Embedded Networks to Increase the Deployment of Distributed Generation on Australian Apartment Buildings', in 2018 IEEE International Energy Conference, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Limasol, Cyprus, pp. 1 - 6, presented at 2018 IEEE International Energy Conference, Limasol, Cyprus, 03 June 2018 - 07 June 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ENERGYCON.2018.8398770
    Reports | 2018
    Roberts M; Copper J; Bruce A; Barton T; Haghdadi N; Hu R, 2018, Solar Trends Report 2018
    Conference Papers | 2018
    Roberts M; Copper J; Bruce A, 2018, 'Analysis of Rooftop Solar Potential on Australian Residential Buildings', in Proceedings APSRC 2018, Australian Photovoltaic Institute, Sydney, presented at Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference, Sydney, 04 December 2018 - 06 December 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/27031
    Software / Code | 2018
    Roberts M, 2018, Multi-Occupancy Residential Electricity with PV and Storage (morePVs) Model, Python script, Published: 2018, Software / Code, https://github.com/mike-b-roberts/morePVs
    Reports | 2017
    Copper J; Roberts M; Bruce A, 2017, Spatial Analysis of Solar Potential in Melbourne, Australian Photovoltaic Institute, http://apvi.org.au/spatial-analysis-of-solar-potential-in-melbourne/
    Reports | 2017
    Copper JK; Roberts MB; Bruce A, 2017, Spatial Analysis of Solar Potential in Sydney, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18222.41286, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316984620_Spatial_Analysis_of_Solar_Potential_in_Sydney
    Conference Papers | 2017
    Roberts M; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2017, 'PV on Apartment Buildings - Which Side of the Meter?', Melbourne, presented at Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference, Melbourne, 05 December 2017 - 07 December 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/26487
    Other | 2017
    Roberts M; Macgill I; Passey R, 2017, Submission in response to the NSW Dept of Planning & Environment Discussion Paper on Consumer Protections, http://ceem.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/APVI%20CEEM%20Submission%20to%20NSW%20Consumer%20Protections%20Review.pdf
    Reports | 2017
    Roberts M; passey R; Bruce A; Macgill I, 2017, Submission in response to the AEMC’s draft report on the review of regulatory arrangements for embedded networks, RPR0006, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/26486
    Other | 2017
    Roberts MB; Passey R; Bruce A; Macgill I, 2017, Submission to AEMC Review of Regulatory Arrangements for Embedded Networks, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15457.30560
    Reports | 2017
    Stringer N; Roberts M; Young S; Passey R; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2017, Submission in response to the AEMC’s Distribution Market Model draft report, AEMC Project Number SEA0004, SEA0004, http://ceem.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/2017-07-05_1010%20submission%20DMM.pdf
    Reports | 2016
    Copper J; Roberts MB; Bruce A, 2016, Spatial Analysis of Solar Potential in Brisbane, APVI, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23321.21606, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314680329_Spatial_Analysis_of_Solar_Potential_in_Brisbane
    Conference Papers | 2016
    Roberts MB; Huxham G; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2016, 'Using PV to help meet Common Property Energy Demand in Residential Apartment Buildings', in 2016 Australian Summer Study on Energy Productivity, Sydney, presented at Australian Summer Study on Energy Productivity, Sydney, 24 February 2016 - 26 February 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.2640.6009
    Conference Papers | 2016
    Roberts MB; Huxham G; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2016, 'Using PV to help meet Common Property Energy Demand in Residential Apartment Buildings', University of Technology, Sydney, http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/ssep2016.522
    Other | 2016
    Roberts MB, 2016, Domestic microgeneration: renewable and distributed energy technologies, policies and economics, ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2016.1195098
    Conference Papers | 2015
    Roberts M; Bruce A; MacGill I, 2015, 'PV in Australian Apartment Buildings – Opportunities and Barriers', in Egan R; Passey R (ed.), Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference 2015, Australian PV Institute, Brisbane, presented at Proceedings of the Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference 2015, Brisbane, 08 December 2015 - 10 December 2015, http://apvi.org.au/solar-research-conference/index.php?aam_media=2390

Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis 2019

Chair of the Australian PV Institute (www.apvi.org.au) (2023-2024)

Director of the Australian PV Institute (2018-2024)

 

My Teaching

SOLA 9104 Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems