IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v61y2013icp151-161.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Empowering the end-user in smart grids: Recommendations for the design of products and services

Author

Listed:
  • Geelen, Daphne
  • Reinders, Angèle
  • Keyson, David

Abstract

In discussions on smart grids, it is often stated that residential end-users will play a more active role in the management of electric power supply and demand. They are expected to shift from a passive role as consumer of electricity to an active role as co-provider. In this article, the extent to which current technologies, products and services empower end-users to take up an active role as co-providers is evaluated. Based on a review of literature and related pilot projects, current approaches were found to be driven by technical and financial considerations. There appears to be a lack of product and service design that supports end-users in their role as co-providers in a smart grid. This is reflected in the lack of thought given to how the end-users’ process of behavioral change can be supported to enable the transition from consumer to co-provider. Several recommendations are provided for product and service designers towards fostering the role of co-provider, which comes under under: (a) user interaction needs, (b) approaches to behavioral change and (c) community initiatives and management of resources. Designers are considered to play a bridging role between policy making and engineering, while facilitating involvement of end-users in the design process.

Suggested Citation

  • Geelen, Daphne & Reinders, Angèle & Keyson, David, 2013. "Empowering the end-user in smart grids: Recommendations for the design of products and services," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 151-161.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:61:y:2013:i:c:p:151-161
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.107
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142151300462X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.107?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keirstead, James, 2007. "Behavioural responses to photovoltaic systems in the UK domestic sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 4128-4141, August.
    2. Lopes, M.A.R. & Antunes, C.H. & Martins, N., 2012. "Energy behaviours as promoters of energy efficiency: A 21st century review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 4095-4104.
    3. Sanquist, Thomas F. & Orr, Heather & Shui, Bin & Bittner, Alvah C., 2012. "Lifestyle factors in U.S. residential electricity consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 354-364.
    4. Breukers, S.C. & Heiskanen, E. & Brohmann, B. & Mourik, R.M. & Feenstra, C.F.J., 2011. "Connecting research to practice to improve energy demand-side management (DSM)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 2176-2185.
    5. Heiskanen, Eva & Johnson, Mikael & Robinson, Simon & Vadovics, Edina & Saastamoinen, Mika, 2010. "Low-carbon communities as a context for individual behavioural change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 7586-7595, December.
    6. Faruqui, Ahmad & Sergici, Sanem & Sharif, Ahmed, 2010. "The impact of informational feedback on energy consumption—A survey of the experimental evidence," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 1598-1608.
    7. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9-10), pages 1082-1095, October.
    8. Honebein, Peter C. & Cammarano, Roy F. & Boice, Craig, 2011. "Building a Social Roadmap for the Smart Grid," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 78-85, May.
    9. Alexandra-Gwyn Paetz & Elisabeth Dütschke & Wolf Fichtner, 2012. "Smart Homes as a Means to Sustainable Energy Consumption: A Study of Consumer Perceptions," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 23-41, March.
    10. Mullan, Jonathan & Harries, David & Bräunl, Thomas & Whitely, Stephen, 2012. "The technical, economic and commercial viability of the vehicle-to-grid concept," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 394-406.
    11. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1082-1095.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alberts, Genevieve & Gurguc, Zeynep & Koutroumpis, Pantelis & Martin, Ralf & Muûls, Mirabelle & Napp, Tamaryn, 2016. "Competition and norms: A self-defeating combination?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 504-523.
    2. Belaïd, Fateh & Garcia, Thomas, 2016. "Understanding the spectrum of residential energy-saving behaviours: French evidence using disaggregated data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 204-214.
    3. Khosrowpour, Ardalan & Jain, Rishee K. & Taylor, John E. & Peschiera, Gabriel & Chen, Jiayu & Gulbinas, Rimas, 2018. "A review of occupant energy feedback research: Opportunities for methodological fusion at the intersection of experimentation, analytics, surveys and simulation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 304-316.
    4. Curtin, Joseph & McInerney, Celine & Ó Gallachóir, Brian, 2017. "Financial incentives to mobilise local citizens as investors in low-carbon technologies: A systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 534-547.
    5. Spandagos, Constantine & Ng, Tze Ling, 2018. "Fuzzy model of residential energy decision-making considering behavioral economic concepts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 611-625.
    6. Anna Kowalska-Pyzalska & Katarzyna Byrka, 2019. "Determinants of the Willingness to Energy Monitoring by Residential Consumers: A Case Study in the City of Wroclaw in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, March.
    7. Sandro Casal & Nives DellaValle & Luigi Mittone & Ivan Soraperra, 2017. "Feedback and efficient behavior," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, April.
    8. Khosrowpour, Ardalan & Xie, Yimeng & Taylor, John E. & Hong, Yili, 2016. "One size does not fit all: Establishing the need for targeted eco-feedback," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 523-530.
    9. Berka, Anna L. & Creamer, Emily, 2018. "Taking stock of the local impacts of community owned renewable energy: A review and research agenda," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3400-3419.
    10. Ben-Haim, Yakov, 2021. "Feedback for energy conservation: An info-gap approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    11. Gans, Will & Alberini, Anna & Longo, Alberto, 2013. "Smart meter devices and the effect of feedback on residential electricity consumption: Evidence from a natural experiment in Northern Ireland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 729-743.
    12. Anna Kowalska-Pyzalska & Katarzyna Maciejowska & Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron & Rafal Weron, 2013. "Going green: Agent-based modeling of the diffusion of dynamic electricity tariffs," HSC Research Reports HSC/13/05, Hugo Steinhaus Center, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.
    13. Trotta, Gianluca, 2018. "Factors affecting energy-saving behaviours and energy efficiency investments in British households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 529-539.
    14. Zhen Hu & Mei Wang & Zhe Cheng, 2022. "Mapping the knowledge development and trend of household energy consumption," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 6053-6071, May.
    15. Andrius Kažukauskas & Thomas Broberg & Jūratė Jaraitė, 2021. "Social Comparisons in Real Time: A Field Experiment of Residential Electricity and Water Use," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(2), pages 558-592, April.
    16. Quentin Coutellier & Greer Gosnell & Ralf Martin & Mirabelle Muûls & Goran Strbac & Mingyang Sun & Simon Tindermans, 2019. "Making smart meters smarter the smart way," CEP Discussion Papers dp1602, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    17. Møller, Niels Framroze & Andersen, Laura Mørch & Hansen, Lars Gårn & Jensen, Carsten Lynge, 2019. "Can pecuniary and environmental incentives via SMS messaging make households adjust their electricity demand to a fluctuating production?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1050-1058.
    18. McAndrew, Ryan & Mulcahy, Rory & Gordon, Ross & Russell-Bennett, Rebekah, 2021. "Household energy efficiency interventions: A systematic literature review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    19. Iztok Podbregar & Sanja Filipović & Mirjana Radovanović & Olga Mirković Isaeva & Polona Šprajc, 2021. "Electricity Prices and Consumer Behavior, Case Study Serbia—Randomized Control Trials Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-12, January.
    20. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/60sgjahunh9dkqd8c1s048perp is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Anna Kowalska-Pyzalska, 2015. "Social acceptance of green energy and dynamic electricity tariffs - a short review," HSC Research Reports HSC/15/07, Hugo Steinhaus Center, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:61:y:2013:i:c:p:151-161. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.