Danish PV Prosumers’ Time-Shifting of Energy-Consuming Everyday Practices

Kirsten Gram-Hanssen, Anders Rhiger Hansen and Mette Mechlenborg
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Kirsten Gram-Hanssen: Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University Copenhagen, 2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark
Anders Rhiger Hansen: Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University Copenhagen, 2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark
Mette Mechlenborg: Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University Copenhagen, 2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: Consumer engagement in the energy system is necessary to ensure a low-carbon transition. However, this has proved difficult because consumers are engaged in pursuing everyday practices rather than focusing on abstract questions of energy. Recent studies have suggested that being a prosumer can make a difference. This paper builds on survey data from a representative sample of 2505 photovoltaic (PV) owners in Denmark combined with 12 qualitative in-depth interviews. The results indicate that PV owners consider that they have become more concerned about energy consumption and adjust the timing of their everyday practices to their production. Thus, 67% of the households ‘often’ or ‘always’ time-shift the use of washing machines to their production. The extent to which households time-shift is strongly related to their net-metering scheme. Thus, 75% of the households on hourly metering stated that they ‘to some’ or to ‘a great extent’ adjust their consumption, compared to only 26% of the households on annual metering. This financial effect is interpreted in an everyday life context where financial gain transfers meanings of self-sufficiency and sustainability, rather than primarily being viewed as rational economic behaviour. The conclusion discusses the policy implications of methods to engage the consumer.

Keywords: residential electricity consumption; energy prosumers; renewable energy production; load management; demand-side management; household practices (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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