‘Culture’ and ‘policy’ as interacting elements

With an appreciation for the roles of‘culture’ in energy transitions and mainstreaming, the book’s research has found four ways in which energy cultures and residential solar energy' policies can interact in small, tropical islands which have yet to mainstream solar energy: policy niche-creation, policy selection, policy goal-setting and policy designing.

Creating niches for policies

The results from Chapters 5 and 6 showed that the mainstream energy' cultures are electricity-oriented. The norms, practices, material culture and external

Conclusions on mainstreaming solar energy 191 influences relate to the use and costs of using electricity from the utility companies. This suggests that there are very broad techno-cultural niches for technologies that generate electricity.

Distributed residential PV can fit into these niches (instead of solar water heating). This is supported by solar energy norms which largely relate to PV, and the fact that water heating is not as culturally salient as its technical consumption is. The cultural consensus that exists with respect to the norms surrounding the perception that residents use the most energy during the evening suggests that broad techno-cultural niches further exist for PV designs that do not hamper the continued use of electricity when it is needed most, for example FiT-supported PV.

It is worth stating that battery-integrated options can fit into these niches but are likely to enter the regime after grid-connected PV as shown in Barbados and O'ahu. Key reasons are that though battery storage costs are falling, they are still relatively expensive, and battery-integrated systems are more complex innovations than grid-connected PV.

The techno-cultural niches described here are very broad and not necessarily solar specific. This is because ‘culture’ is not a standalone element in niche-creation — if it was then PV would have already been more widespread in Trinidad for example. This illustrates the interconnectedness of the regime’s elements from Chapter 2 and why other elements such as policies will be instrumental in mainstreaming distributed residential solar energy. Nevertheless, the creation of these broad techno-cultural niches shows that the incumbent energy cultures looked at have long-term cultural structures built around electricity as the dominant energy carrier.

Broad renewable energy' ambitions, for example RTSs and RETs can support such techno-cultural niches because they create the broad institutional and policy space for renewable resources which complements the cultural elements creating the niches in question. Such policies can capitalize on the sustainability-related motivators for adopting solar energy because such targets offer quantitative references which PV adopters can feel a sense of ownership towards. They also play on the norms surrounding solar energy’s relative advantages related to the sun’s longevity versus the limited fossil fuel reserves.

Selecting policies

Capital cost and performance-based incentives

As outlined earlier, renewable energy goals can support the broad niches for distributed residential solar energy. However, they do not directly address cost-effectiveness at the household level. This is important because people value ‘costs’ and are especially motivated by ‘cost-effectiveness’. This will also be important in islands like Trinidad where the electricity is subsidized. These notions are related to the belief that using PV can be more economicthan the electricity provided by the utility company on the island and so point towards a need for fiscal interventions. Such policies can be capital cost-oriented or performance-based.

Several of the residents interviewed in Barbados claimed tax credits on their SWHs which reduced the capital cost of the systems. But the policy was not an organic or salient part of their energy culture as shown by the discussion in Chapter 6. A more culturally impactful policy would arguably be a grid-connected programme like a FiT or NEM for example. Policies like these are examples of performance-based incentives.

These are likely to be more culturally impactful because they have longer lifetimes compared to one-off tax incentives. Policies are external influences on energy cultures and grid-connected incentives are likely to particularly affect the ‘cost’ aspects of residents’ perceptions of household energy. This does not mean that addressing capital costs is unimportant, however.

The residents’ norms and practices involved in adopting SWHs (see Chapter 6) in Barbados show that it is important to have policies which support flexible payment schemes in addition to Government-led policies, for example rent-to-own plans from retailers. These will be important for widening the adoption audience since flexible capital cost payment plans do not necessarily reduce the capital costs of solar systems, but they mitigate the impact of their upfront costs and make payments more manageable.

The residents interviewed in Trinidad value convenience and practicality amongst others as adoption motivators. So, fiscal policies should be designed around such motivators as well. For example, rent-to-own plans which mitigate the full impact of upfront capital costs will be more practical for many adopters in terms of making payments versus paying the full cost at one time. This also applies to how these payments are made where automated payments from a customer’s bank account to the retailer through a mobile app may be more convenient than personally visiting the retailer or bank to make regular payments for instance. The administrative elements of accessing incentives like tax incentives, FiTs, NEM, flexible payments, and any others to be implemented, for example completing and submitting application forms, also need to be tailored to the culturally salient adoption motivators.

Technology and industry standards and certification and accreditation schemes

The salient information residents would want on household solar energy technologies and residents’ adoption motivators can be used to design technology and industry standards. The norms that led to the number of adoption pathways observed for solar hot water in Barbados, for example non-manufacturer retail, door-to-door sales and direct manufacturer retail (see Chapter 6), show that there should be a multiplicity of adoption pathways. Having standards will ensure that the technology and retail service quality is maintained especially where non-manufacturer retailing is allowed (considering the risk of inferior systems and services entering the market).

Industry standards should be supported by certification and accreditation schemes. These schemes would ensure that retailers are skilled enough so that a minimum acceptable service standard guided by national industry and technology standards can be set. Other benefits that can come from certification and accreditation include publicity, branding and status for certified and accredited retailers which can be used for marketing their products. The certification and accreditation should further be supported by training and capacity building programmes to build a minimum and standardized skilllevel in the industry.

Education and awareness-raising

In islands where there are no incentives available for household solar energy technologies, having education and awareness-raising initiatives will be particularly important because even in cases where there may be policies supporting solar energy, if adopters are unaware of them or the supported technologies then the policies’ efficacy will be limited — as is the case in Trinidad.

Chapters 5 and 6 showed that the residents in Trinidad have a more generic understanding of solar water heating when compared to those in Barbados. Their understanding of it also includes references to PV and misconceptions about how both SWHs and PV work. This is not likely to be an isolated observation in islands so there is therefore a need to fill such knowledge gaps.

Key information that would help based on Trinidad’s mainstream energy culture sample largely relate to solar energy technologies and the industry. For example, technological information will include brands and types of solar energy systems available as well as their lifetimes and reliability. Information about the industry particularly includes the installation information, maintenance regimen and standard warranties that should be offered for instance.

This awareness-raising also needs to consider the impact of policies because solar energy technologies are innovations, but their supporting policies will be innovations as well. For example, comparing standalone PV to PV under a grid-connected scheme are different innovations being presented to a potential adopter because the policy affects the technology’s relative advantages and consequently the information presented the adopter. There will also likely be more uncertainties associated with policy-supported solar technologies because they are arguably more complex innovations.

Further, disseminating information should use the culturally salient information channels, for example the internet and one-on-one professional consultations; the internet is an example of a mass communication platform and the latter is an interpersonal channel. Mass communication tends to build awareness about innovations, but interpersonal channels are more effective in stimulating changes in attitudes and the decision-making associated with adopting innovations. Therefore, education and awareness-raising need multi-channel communication strategies to treat different types of adopters.

Nevertheless, education and awareness-raising policies will directly impact energy cultures by helping to culturally define the niches for solar energy described earlier on in the chapter and specifically so by influencing the norms about solar energy and the technologies.

Setting policy goals

As shown in Chapter 6, the development of new norms and practices, and acquisition of new material culture marks an energy' cultures shift — and policies can directly and indirectly (through the supported technologies) catalyse such shifts.

The education and awareness-raising strategy outlined before is an example of a policy that will have a direct impact on an energy culture and tax credits are an example of a policy that will have an indirect impact because its assimilation in the energy culture will be strongly mediated by the PV or SWH systems they support.

A grid-connected policy like a FiT or NEM, however, is an example of a policy that will likely have both direct and indirect impacts on an energy' culture. The anticipated direct and indirect impacts are based on comparing the cultural changes that would be likely to occur with the adoption of standalone PV versus grid-connected PV. This helps make the distinction between impacts due to adopting the technology versus adopting the policy and technology.

For example, in the case of a FiT, it will be an external influence on the energy culture. So as an external influence it would make solar panels new material culture (indirect impact); a new norm would be that adopters expect and believe that the amount of solar power generated affects their electricity bill (indirect impact); and a new practice would be collecting cheques/payments for generating and/or exporting solar power to the grid (direct impact) (see Table 8.1). These anticipated changes are part of the energy' cultures shift under FiT-supported PV and can be framed as goals that policymakers can design the FiT to achieve.

Designing policies

A FiT is a good example to look at to illustrate how energy cultures and policies can influence each other. Based on the research conducted which informed the book, the considerations for the metering and use of a generation and/or export tariff under a FiT are worth highlighting as specific examples.

Solar power exported to the grid can be either estimated or metered. Chapter 5 touched on the perceived electricity bills of the residents interviewed in Trinidad as well as provided insight into their perceptions behind these bills; these perceptions determine whether householders believe their electricity bills are either too high or too low. Whilst there were no overwhelming consensuses driving the rationales, four stood out because of two

Table 8.1 Showing key energy cultures policy goals that can be associated with a FiT

Source: The author.

Note

The direct and indirect impacts are based on comparing the changes that would be likely to occur with stand-alone PV versus distributed PV.

underlying beliefs: the electric utility company determines the costs on bills by zoning households based on an urban-rural divide, and the electricity bill is calculated remotely versus reading the household’s actual electricity meter.

Whilst these are residents’ perceptions and not statements of fact, they still point towards there being a belief that the utility’s metering is flawed and there is mistrust in the billing. Therefore, this may affect the understanding of the metering and crediting/debiting for FiT-supported PV. So, having a separate generation and consumption meter (versus a bi-directional meter as with NEM for instance) may be a better fit here for example. Further, Chapter 7 showed that if solar power is metered under a FiT, it would use separate generation and consumption meters because the imported and exported electricity is priced differently.

Chapter 6 showed that consuming solar energy in the home is a norm for the residents interviewed in Barbados, that is, solar energy self-consumption. This is important because it diversifies the household energy mix (technically and culturally) and gives ‘the household’ a greater sense of ownership over their energy (re)sources. Encouraging solar self-consumption can be a cultural policy goal (see Table 8.1). This goal helps with the considerations around a FiT’s generation/export tariff design since different designs encourage self-consumption.

As Chapter 7 outlined, in the most polarized of form, homes can be paid either for generating their solar power and/or exporting it — and if the export tariff rate is higher than the utility’s retail rate then exporting power is more profitable, but when the export tariff is lower it encourages self-consumption. This suggests that a solar power generation tariff, or export tariff that is lower than the utility’s retail rates, would encourage solar power self-consumption.

Using a generation tariff means that any solar power exported to the grid is done freely and the utility would benefit from essentially ‘free’ power. Therefore, solar power self-consumption is in the household’s best interest. But whilst a generation tariff encourages self-consumption, there is the risk of adopters increasing their energy consumption to avoid exporting it freely if there is a surplus, for example leaving the air conditioning on for longer periods of time.

Householders may also not care whether they export power freely to the grid since they are being paid for their solar power no matter where it is consumed. This is because the norms which may develop around the FiT may include a degree of insensitivity to differences between generation and export tariffs — the fact that adopters are simply offered generic payments for their solar power may be the way in which the policy’s ‘incentivization’ is culturally assimilated.

In order to reconcile solar power self-consumption with the incentive to adopt PV under an exportation scheme, the export tariff should be geared towards surplus solar power generation and remunerated at a rate lower than the retail electricity tariff. So, the fact that adopters are paid for surplus export means that they need to consume their solar power and there is an incentive to reduce consumption so that more power could be exported. This allows the home to consume their solar power, reduce energy consumption and still benefit from the solar power payments.

These considerations do not exclusively point towards choosing between a generation and export-oriented FiT for surplus power or even combinations of the two. But they do however put forward considerations that would be important for planning a policy like a FiT from a more human angle which is rooted in energy cultures.

An indirect aspect of the FiT design would be advisories to residents on how to get the most out of their PV system under a FiT. This specifically refers to the disparity between peak solar power generation and peak energy demand raised in Chapter 7. This warrants thinking about demand-side management interventions aimed at load shifting to encourage solar power selfconsumption during peak solar power generation times.

The book’s cultural chapters provided detail on the perceived peak energy demand timings and their drivers, but a significant aspect is the fact that

Conclusions on mainstreaming solar energy 197 householders are simply not home during the day which is when solar power generation is at its peak. This means that there will be more solar power exported then since it is not being consumed and generation is at its highest.

Practices such as cooking and showering, and material culture like televisions and air conditioners are more specific drivers of the perceived evening peak demand. Specific and flexible features of energy cultures can be identified and used as targets for behavioural change through load shifting. For example, doing the laundry is a salient driver of the perceived peak demand in Trinidad and Barbados, and weekends are also part of the residents’ cultural framing of a ‘typical’ day. So, households can be encouraged to do their laundry during peak solar energy generation hours on weekends if the laundry is being done manually. Alternatively, if laundry machines are ‘smart’, then they can be automated to wash clothes during peak solar power generation times.