Reviewed by Lexie CornerDec 17 2024
How can more families be encouraged to adopt solar panels, home batteries for storing solar energy, heat pumps, and electric cars? Researchers from the Universities of Basel and Geneva explored this question in a recent study published in Cell Reports Sustainability.
Swiss households have the potential to contribute meaningfully to climate goals and the energy transition by using environmentally friendly technologies such as solar panels, electric vehicles, and heat pumps. Dr. Mart van der Kam and Professor Ulf Hahnel from the University of Basel examined the policy measures that could support families in adopting these solutions.
In collaboration with experts from the University of Geneva, the research team surveyed nearly 1,500 Swiss families to understand the factors influencing their decisions to adopt (or avoid) sustainable technologies. The findings were then integrated into a dynamic model that represented households and their decision-making processes.
This method enabled the researchers to identify which policy measures best address household needs and preferences, supporting the broader adoption of these technologies across Switzerland.
Individual Incentives Have Too Little Effect
Mart van der Kam acknowledges that growing competition among manufacturers has made environmentally friendly technologies, like electric cars, more accessible and appealing to consumers. However, he emphasizes that political action is needed to encourage broader adoption of technologies such as solar panels and heat pumps.
It is not individual incentives but rather the proper mix of political measures that makes a decisive difference.
Mart van der Kam, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Basel
Subsidies for solar panels or heat pumps, for example, are just one part of the solution. It is equally important to address the barriers that prevent renters from accessing these technologies.
“Until now, the building owners have had to make the investment, but the renters have profited from the reduced energy costs,” Van der Kam explained. This imbalance reduces the incentive for building owners to invest in these solutions.
This has made the investment less valuable to the owners.
Solutions for Renters
The case of solar panels offers an example of how government intervention can help renters overcome such barriers. For several years, renters have had the right to install solar panels on their balconies.
Van der Kam suggests that similar policies could be applied to technologies like heat pumps or energy storage in the future. One potential solution might involve neighborhood batteries that store solar energy generated by multiple buildings or an entire district, providing a shared power source.
Nearly two-thirds of Swiss households are renters. This represents an enormous untapped potential that could provide a major step forward toward the energy revolution.
Ulf Hahnel, Professor, University of Basel
He argues that effective solutions require multidisciplinary research that goes beyond technological advances to also consider consumer behavior and preferences. This approach could help shape targeted policies and structural changes that support adoption.
Hahnel added, “We must bring different disciplines and their methods together to tackle complex and multifaceted challenges such as climate change and the energy revolution.”
Journal Reference:
van der Kam, M., et. al. (2024) An empirical agent-based model of consumer co-adoption of low-carbon technologies to inform energy policy. Cell Reports Sustainability. doi.org/10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100268.