Power from the people? Driving forces and hindrances (completed)

• Jackson Inderberg, Tor Håkon; Sæle, Hanne; Westskog, Hege & Winther, Tanja (2020). The dynamics of solar prosuming: Exploring interconnections between actor groups in Norway. Energy Research & Social Science. ISSN 2214-6296. 70, p. 1–11. doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101816. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Solar prosuming is an emerging phenomenon in which many actor groups are involved in shaping new solutions. Here we study national policymakers, relevant stakeholders such as grid companies, and the prosumers themselves – and the interconnections between them – to provide a contextualised exploration of positions, perceptions and interconnections that influence prosuming activities. Our 65 in-depth interviews in Norway, 33 of which with pioneering prosumers show that this group is not attracted to prosuming primarily for financial reasons, but for pursuing particular identities. However, our results also indicate that if prosuming were to become more widespread, economic considerations would be central. Further, the interplay among actor groups, mediated through current regulations and technologies, and the related perceptions, affect the uptake and organisation of solar prosuming activities. Third-party market actors such as the solar and building industry play important roles, as do grid companies and municipalities that are expected to facilitate prosuming activities. Given the current policy framework in Norway, we conclude that if increasing prosuming activities becomes a desired political goal, this will require stronger financial incentives for individual prosumers, and a deeper understanding of the interplay among actors across arenas and sectors.

• Cherry, Todd & Sæle, Hanne (2020). Residential Photovoltaic Systems in Norway: Household Knowledge, Preferences and Willingness to Pay. Challenges in Sustainability. ISSN 2297-6477. 8(1), p. 1–16. doi: 10.12924/cis2020.08010001. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Solar power or photovoltaic (PV) systems have emerged as a leading low-carbon energy technology worldwide, but the deployment of residential PV systems in Norway has lagged behind other Scandinavian countries. Therefore, the Norwegian market provides an opportunity to gain insights on the demand factors that determine residential PV adoption. This paper presents results from a stated-preference survey designed to elicit household knowledge, preferences and willingness to pay for residential PV systems. Results suggest that meaningful growth in residential PV capacity depends greater knowledge among households, continued advances in technology, clarity with the grid tariff and stronger support systems. A review of recent experiences in the field corroborates the important role of effective regulatory structures and support programs.

• Westskog, Hege; Winther, Tanja & Aasen, Marianne (2018). The creation of an ecovillage: Handling identities in a Norwegian sustainable valley. Sustainability. ISSN 2071-1050. 10(6). doi: 10.3390/su10062074. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper presents a qualitative study of Hurdal Ecovillage in Norway. It explores how the actors involved have interacted over time and contributed to shaping the ecovillage. The study demonstrates that the ecovillage as a concept is continuously refined both internally on an individual level and in the village, and in mainstream society. At stake is the question of ecovillage identity and what this should entail. The interviewed ecovillagers report two main motives for deciding to move to the village. One is to become part of the ecovillage community, while the other is grounded in the ecovillage as a means to achieve sustainability rather than as a goal in itself. Hurdal Ecovillage has undergone two distinct development phases. First, the members jointly owned the land, built their own houses, and attempted to be self-sufficient. The ecovillage was largely isolated from the local community. In the second phase, professional actors took over responsibility for developing the village, offering ready-made houses to be owned by individual families. This shift resulted in the ecovillage appearing more like conventional settlements. Today’s ecovillagers express a wish to constitute an attractive, sustainable alternative to conventional living, but to do so they have to maintain a distance between themselves and the wider community.

• Winther, Tanja & Bell, Sandra (2018). Domesticating In Home Displays in selected British and Norwegian households. Science & Technology Studies. ISSN 2243-4690. 31(2), p. 19–38. doi: 10.23987/sts.56791. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The paper uses qualitative data from Norway and the United Kingdom to understand the New technology of In Home Display monitors as a material object loaded with meaning and norms that may affect social practices and relations. The displays are designed to encourage householders to reduce electricity consumption. In contrast to technologies associated with ‘smart meters’, the monitors under study cannot be used for controlling or automatising various types of electricity consumption, but these devises nonetheless often form part of ‘smart grid solutions’. A large part of the research in this area has attempted to quantify the impact of displays, and qualitative research focusing on the users has also mainly sought to explain why - or why not – the introduction of displays has resulted in reduced household consumption. This paper follows a more open approach to the introduction and impact of displays by paying attention to the existing routines and social practices into which the display enters and potentially becomes integrated and domesticated. We examine to what extent ideas and norms inscribed in the display continue to have a bearing on the household moral economy and internal dynamics as the objects are negotiated and taken in use in British and Norwegian homes. Drawing on earlier studies that have sought to combine practice and domestication theory for understanding displays, the study’s novelty lies in its focus on the materiality of displays and social implications thereof, and its analysis of the social status of this object in two diff erent contexts.

• Winther, Tanja; Westskog, Hege & Sæle, Hanne (2018). Like having an electric car on the roof: Domesticating PV solar panels in Norway. Energy for Sustainable Development. ISSN 0973-0826. 47, p. 84–93. doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2018.09.006. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Worldwide, the number of electricity end-users who produce electricity and feed it to the grid, denoted ‘prosumers’, is increasing. Following innovations in policy, technology (e.g. inverters, smart meters), tariffing and subsidy schemes, solar panels (PV – photovoltaic) connected to the grid have entered the electricity systems in many countries such as the UK and Germany. Norway is an exceptional case in several ways. Because electricity production is mainly based on hydropower, PV does not form a significant part of the government’s vision of the country’s future electricity mix. As a result, governance is limited to prosumer regulations that make it possible to become prosumers in a relatively simple way, but do not actively encourage growth in this market, which is mainly demand driven and only slowly increasing. Norway also has a rapid uptake of electric vehicles at present, potentially influencing the way electricity is managed by households. In this context of pioneering prosumer activities in Norway, this study draws on material from 29 in-depth interviews with prosumers located across the country. The objective is to examine people’s rationales for investing in solar power and how they use this technology to signal identity. We draw on consumption and domestication theory as well as practice-oriented approaches to energy use. The results show that at present there are three groups of prosumers in Norway who have followed distinct domestication paths. We denote the groups as individual prosumers (who have taken the initiative to install solar PV), ‘smart house' dwellers and ecovillagers, respectively. All three share an emphasis on self-consumption in terms of maximising electricity use in periods with sunshine. They also make use of solar technology to signal identity (conversion). However, the groups’ styles of prosuming differ. In terms of incorporating the technology in daily life, the individual prosumers closely follow their own production and engage more actively with the monitoring equipment than the two other groups. As to their underlying values and motivations for prosuming, the individual prosumers, who are largely men, emphasise their interest in testing the new technology. The smart house dwellers associate their type of housing with a high level of comfort and consider the PV to signal a modern way of living. The ecovillagers are primarily concerned with environmentally friendly living. The materiality and physical position of the solar panels on the roofs partly help to create social significance, but only because the dwellers and their observers associate the object with particular values. Each of our three groups draws a particular meaning from PV that serves to strengthen their desired identity. The results indicate that PV may have the potential to spread to a variety of energy customer groups in Norway. However, the issue of diffusion is uncertain, partly because the studied groups are pioneers and do not necessarily represent a general segment of the population. Also, the studied prosumers tend to downplay economic profitability as a rationale for obtaining PV, and Norwegian authorities do not actively promote PV through support schemes.

• Inderberg, Tor Håkon Jackson; Tews, Kerstin & Turner, Britta (2018). Is there a Prosumer Pathway? Exploring household solar energy development in Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Energy Research & Social Science. ISSN 2214-6296. 42, p. 258–269. doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2018.04.006. Full text in Research Archive
• Cherry, Todd; McEvoy, David M. & Westskog, Hege (2017). Cultural worldviews, institutional rules and the willingness to participate in green energy programs. Resource and Energy Economics. ISSN 0928-7655. 56, p. 28–38. doi: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2017.10.001.
• Winther, Tanja & Gurigard, Kjell (2017). Energy performance contracting (EPC): a suitable mechanism for achieving energy savings in housing cooperatives? Results from a Norwegian pilot project. Energy Efficiency. ISSN 1570-646X. 10(3), p. 577–596. doi: 10.1007/s12053-016-9477-0. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The barriers to energy savings in institutions and private homes are well known and include people’s lack of interest, awareness, knowledge and human and financial capacity. Experiences made in several countries show that EPC—energy performance contracting—may be used for overcoming many of these barriers. A typical EPC project is delivered by an energy service company (ESCO) and the contract is accompanied with a guarantee for energy savings. EPC is increasingly taken in use in the professional market (firms and the public sector), but is less common in the residential sector market. It has been suggested that there are several barriers for using EPC in the domestic sector such as the uncertainty involved in estimating forthcoming reductions in private consumption. In this paper, we present the results from a pilot project on the use of EPC in a housing cooperative in Oslo. The project was initiated and observed by the researchers. The research followed a transdisciplinary methodology in that it was conducted by both researcher and practitioner (co-authors) in close collaboration with members of the housing cooperative and the ESCOs, who also contributed to the interpretation of results. We document the process in terms of why the Board decided to join the EPC pilot, the call for offers from ESCOs who guaranteed that purchased annual energy would be reduced by one third, the responses to and negotiations of the offer from the ESCO who became contracted in the initial phase and up to the moment when the General Assembly finally decided to not invest in the proposed energy saving measures. We find that the residents not only had limited interest in energy savings but also lacked confidence in the EPC process. This contributed to the outcome. We discuss the findings in relation to the barriers to using EPC among housing cooperatives. We highlight the need for more knowledge about the client side for understanding how barriers may be overcome. Three specific recommendations for how EPC may successfully be employed among housing cooperatives are suggested as follows: (i) include refurbishment and not only energy savings in the EPC, (ii) identify the residents’ needs in an early phase and (iii) communicate the EPC principle to the residents throughout the process.

• Aasen, Marianne; Westskog, Hege & Korneliussen, Kristine (2015). Energy performance contracts in the municipal sector in Norway: overcoming barriers to energy savings? Energy Efficiency. ISSN 1570-646X. 9(1), p. 171–185. doi: 10.1007/s12053-015-9356-0. Show summary

  In this paper, we investigate which factors are significant for the uptake of energy performance contracts (EPCs) in Norway’s municipal sector, based on qualitative case studies. An EPC consists of a set of energy efficiency measures provided by an energy service company. The model used in Norway guarantees that savings produced by a project will finance its full cost. Estimates indicate that an EPC is a promising way of substantially increasing savings. We find that a committed individual in the administration is essential for the adoption of an EPC. Such individuals have the technical and/or economic competence to see the potential for energy savings and the organizational competence for moving an EPC through to the political level. Further, we find that the guarantee that accompanies an EPC is well suited for addressing the logic of politicians, and is crucial when the final decision is made. These findings indicate that a standard economic understanding of energy savings is not sufficient. Efforts to increase energy savings might benefit from being targeted at the contexts where measures are to be implemented and at the logic of those making energy-saving decisions.

• Westskog, Hege; Winther, Tanja & Sæle, Hanne (2015). The Effects of In-Home Displays — Revisiting the Context. Sustainability. ISSN 2071-1050. 7(5), p. 5431–5451. doi: 10.3390/su7055431. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper, we investigate the extent to which the use of in-home displays affects daily practices and electricity consumption. Through two pilot projects, in-home displays were installed in 33 Norwegian homes, and we provide a qualitative analysis of the effects. The results point to the potential differences in the ways households interact with the in-home displays. The effects differed among various groups according to people’s previous experiences with monitoring and their level of affluence. In the sample, affluent respondents living in detached houses tended to be accustomed to monitoring consumption before the display was introduced. These families used the display for controlling that “nothing was wrong”, but they did not use the information provided by the display to initiate new energy saving measures. In contrast, among less affluent flat owners the notion of “control” was specifically linked to the family’s management of finances, and in this sense the displays empowered them. In addition, the results indicate that the in-home display for this group resulted in electricity savings. The study adds to earlier research on the effects of in-home displays by showing the importance of previous experience with monitoring electricity for the effects of feedback and by highlighting not only energy savings but also social effects of displays.

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• Westskog, Hege (2018). Strøm fra Folket - hva har vi gjort.
• Winther, Tanja (2018). Nettselskaper og andre aktører Oppsummering av aktørenes perspektiver og forventninger til solstrøm i det norske kraftsystemet.
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• Inderberg, Tor Håkon (2017). Strøm fra folket: hvorfor er det forskjellig antall plusskunder i Tyskland, Storbritannia og Norge?
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• Inderberg, Tor Håkon (2017). Power from the People:Comparing regulatory conditions in Germany, the UK, and Norway. What works?
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• Westskog, Hege; Winther, Tanja & Aasen, Marianne (2017). The creation of and ecovillage.
• Westskog, Hege (2017). Fra Enfaglig til Transfaglig. Veien fra forståelse til løsning.
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• Winther, Tanja & Bell, Sandra (2016). Do we want to know? Domesticating In-Home Displays in Norway and the UK.
• Winther, Tanja (2016). Matching policy and People? Results from empirical Research in Norway on why measures for sustainable electricity consumption often fail.
• Westskog, Hege (2016). Fra enfaglig til transfaglig - en vei fra forståelse til løsninger?
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• Inderberg, Tor Håkon (2016). Power from the People: Comparing regulatory conditions in Germany, the UK, and Norway. What works?
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• Inderberg, Tor Håkon (2015). Power for the People - a project on the conditions and developments of the prosumer in Norway, Germany and the UK.
• Winther, Tanja (2015). Derfor sparer ikke vi nordmenn på strømmen. Aftenposten Viten. ISSN 2464-3033.
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• Inderberg, Tor Håkon; Rego, Amanda; Loloum, Tristan & Bell, Sandra (2018). Power from the People: Prosuming Solar Electricity in the UK, beyond the Feed-in Tariff. Durham University.
• Nygard, Gunn (2017). Historier om en lysende fremtid? En undersøkelse av solcelleanlegg på norske yrkesbygg. Det samfunnsvitenskapelige fakultet, Universitetet i Oslo.
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• Inderberg, Tor Håkon (2016). Power from the People? Prosuming conditions for Germany, the UK and Norway. Fridtjof Nansens Institutt. ISSN 978-82-7613-708-8.

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