Abstract
The user-centered design and the acceptance of smart grid technologies is one key factor for their success. To identify user requirements, barriers and underlying variables of acceptance for future business models (DSO controlled, Voltage-Tariff, Peer-to-Peer) a partly-standardized interview study with N = 21 pro- and consumers was conducted. The results of quantitative and qualitative data demonstrate that the acceptance of each future energy business model is relatively high. The overall usefulness was rated higher for future business models than the current business model. Prosumers had a more positive attitude towards the Peer-to-Peer model, whereas consumers preferred models in which the effort is low (DSO controlled) or an incentive is offered (Voltage-Tariff). The DSO controlled model is not attractive for prosumers, who criticize the increased dependency and external control. From the results it can be concluded that tariffs should be adapted to the user type.
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Acknowledgments
The current research is part of the “NEMoGrid” project and has received funding in the framework of the joint programming initiative ERA-Net SES focus initiative Smart Grids Plus, with support from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 646039. The content and views expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of the ERA-Net SG+ initiative. Any reference given does not necessarily imply the endorsement by ERA-Net SG+. We appreciate the support of our student scientists, who supported data collection and analysis.
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Annex A: Example Statements for the Sub-level Categories of Qualitative Data Analysis
Annex A: Example Statements for the Sub-level Categories of Qualitative Data Analysis
Sub- category (positive or negative) | Example Statement (source: interview no.; model; acceptance variable) |
|---|---|
Low Cognitive Effort (+) | “It is a quite simple business model. It is easy to understand […]” (4; BaU; attitude) |
Effectiveness & Reliable Functionality (+) | “That’s a business model which had worked out in the past.” (13; BaU; attitude) |
Increased Level of Freedom (+) | “Well, I see some opportunities for personal influence here, e.g., with the own behavior for both, the balancing of energy production and consumption as well as to save some money.” (14; Volt; attitude) |
Innovativeness (+) | “But I think it is a positive model, because it is new and because it sound interesting.” (15; P2P; attitude) |
Ecological Integration of Renewables (+) | “That’s the way which leads to 100% renewables in the German electricity grid.” (16; P2P; attitude) |
Room for Improvement (−) | “Actually this model is outdated, as the future is the decentralized energy supply.” (11; BaU; attitude) |
Non-Ecological Production (−) | “The energy suppliers reputation is very bad […] as they heavily produce coal-based and nuclear powe.” (11; BaU; attitude) |
External Control and Dependence (−) | “For me the DSO influence is too big.” (19; DSO; attitude) |
Increased Cognitive Effort (−) | “[…] I don’t want to participate in auctions for my energy permanently and I don’t want to think about my energy price. Well for me it sounds very complicated and it causes a lot more effort than energy usage is worth for me.” (20; P2P; attitude) |
Uncertainty of Costs (−) | “[…] not really knowing what things are going to cost […] trying to understand the bill at the end of month will be a nightmare.” (14; P2P; attitude) |
Predictability of Costs (+) | “[…] there is one price, there is one amount of consumption, and depending on what one consumes you just have to pay.” (7; BaU; ease of use) |
Accessibility (+) | “[…] there’s no sort of requirement, there’s no plenty of requirement. You just use when you want.” (3; BaU; ease of use) |
Financial Incentives (+) | “Probably it would motivate the people, if the earnings are good, to refinance the PV plant.” (7; P2P; ease of use) |
Initial Installation Effort (−) | “[…] at the beginning before you are connected to the grid, there are a lot of bureaucratic things at the beginning.” (8; BaU; ease of use) |
Discrepancy with their own Habits (−) | “you need to […] just go out of your normal routine of electricity consumption.” (1; DSO; ease of use) |
Grid Stabilization & Secure Supply (+) | “[…] one have made positive experiences with this business model. Energy was always available.” (21; BaU; usefulness) |
Increased Level of Freedom (+) | “Within this model the price is varying. Thus one could probably profit, if it runs well.” (6; Volt; usefulness) |
Effective Usage of Energy (+) | “[…] and it [the P2P model] will lead to a more effective utilization of the energy grid, the energy consumption […].” (13; P2P; usefulness) |
Destabilization of the Grid (−) | “To realize an even grid load […] it [the BaU model] is not very beneficial to do so.” (17; BaU; usefulness) |
Few Incentives to Adjust Behavior (−) | Well however I don’t have any incentive if the energy price stays always the same” (9; BaU; usefulness) |
Ecological reasons (+) | “Me myself I favor environment friendly energy production.” (6; BaU; personal norms) |
Norms are not Applicable (−) | “[…] for such approaches moral-ethical aspects are not of importance, or they are ranked very low.” (13; P2P; personal norms) |
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Döbelt, S., Kreußlein, M. (2020). Imagine 2025: Prosumer and Consumer Requirements for Distributed Energy Resource Systems Business Models. In: Ahram, T. (eds) Advances in Artificial Intelligence, Software and Systems Engineering. AHFE 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 965. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20454-9_62
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