“Group-it”: An Innovative Program for Scaling up Dissemination of Photovoltaic Panels
Keywords:
sustainable consumption, citizen implication, renewable energy, co-design, social innovationAbstract
With 3% of the electricity produced by solar panels according to the Swiss Federal Office for Energy, Switzerland is behind the plan regarding the use of solar energy. Acceptance and dissemination of existing technology are key. This paper describes a co-designed program supporting citizens in the process of installing photovoltaic panels. The method used is based on the Living Lab Integrative Process, a mixedmethod combining surveys, qualitative interviews and focus groups. We first explore the main motivations and barriers of the citizen with and without the co-designed program. We collected more than 350 observations to describe the main barriers to actions. We then developed a focus group to co-design the program with the main stakeholders including professionals, researchers and citizen. The principal barriers are linked to a lack of transparency in information and economic reasons. The main motivational drivers are energy independence and desire for greening their lifestyle. Support for decision making and the profitability of the panels are identified drivers which help citizens to be involved in the process and increase their motivation and acceptance regarding the program.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
References
Chesbrough, H. W. (2006), “Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology, Harvard Business Press, Boston.
Faiers, A., Neame, C. (2005), “Consumer attitudes towards domestic solar power systems”, Energy Policy, Vol. 34, No. 14, pp. 1797-1806.
French, J., Gordon, R. (2015), Strategic Social Marketing, Sage, London.
Geels, F. W. (2004), “From sectoral systems of innovation to socio-technical systems: insights about dynamics and change from sociology and institutional theory”, Research Policy, Vol. 33, No. 6-7, pp. 897-920.
Genoud, Darbellay, K., Mastelic, J., Glassey-Previdoli, D., Papilloud, L., Cimmino, F. M. (2019), “Etude comportementale, projet Group-IT: Enquête de satisfaction liée au projet visant la pose de panneaux photovoltaïques en Suisse Romande grâce à un appel d’offres groupé” (Behavioral study, Group-it project: Project satisfaction survey for the installation of panels photovoltaic systems in French-speaking Switzerland thanks to a group call for tenders), available at: https://pubdb.bfe.admin.ch/fr/publication/download/9706 (Mar 3, 2020)
Hoppe, T., De Vries, G. (2019). "Social innovation and the energy transition”, Sustainability, Vol. 11, No. 1, Article 141.
IPCC (2018), “Global warming of 1.5°C: An IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change”, available at: https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2018/07/SR15_SPM_High_Res.pdf (Mar 3, 2020)
Kollmuss, A., Agyeman, J. (2002)” Mind the gap: why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior?”. Environmental education research, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 239-260.
Lemon, K. N., Verhoef, P. C. (2016), "Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 80, No. 6, pp. 69-96.
Mastelic, J. (2015), “L'Energy Living Lab: un écosystème d'innovation pour favoriser la co-création de services énergétiques" (The Energy Living Lab: an innovation ecosystem to promote the co-creation of energy services), in 31ème Congrès de l'Association Française de Marketing, 19-22 May, HEM Business School, Marrakech.
Mastelic, J. (2019), “Stakeholder’s engagement in the co-design of energy conservation interventions: the case of the Energy Living Lab”, Doctoral Thesis, University of Lausanne.
Office fédéral de l'Energie (OFEN). (2019). Stratégie énergétique 2050. Available at Admin: https://www.uvek.admin.ch/uvek/fr/home/energie/strategie-energetique-2050.html (13 july 2020).
Palm, J. (2018), “Household installation of solar panels – motives and barriers in a 10-year perspective”, Energy Policy, Vol. 113, pp. 1-8.
Rai, V., Reeves, D. C., Margolis, R. (2016), “Overcoming barriers and uncertainties of the adoption of residential solar PV”, Renewable Energy, Vol. 89, pp. 498-505.
Richardson, A. (2010), “Using customer journey maps to improve customer experience”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 2-5.
Sanders, E. B. N., Stappers, P. J. (2008), “Co-creation and the new landscapes of design”, Co-design, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 5-18.
SEFO (2019), “Annual Report”, available at https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2020-06/SEforALL_2019-Annual-Report.pdf (Mar 3, 2020)
