IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v109y2017icp141-153.html

Individual and collective socio-psychological patterns of photovoltaic investment under diverging policy regimes of Austria and Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Braito, Michael
  • Flint, Courtney
  • Muhar, Andreas
  • Penker, Marianne
  • Vogel, Stefan

Abstract

Photovoltaic policies show the primary effect of encouraging photovoltaic investments, but also secondary effects of crowding-in/out individuals with specific socio-psychological patterns. To enhance our understanding of such crowding effects, we investigated two comparative study cases with contrasting state support for photovoltaic investments: high financial support in the province of Bolzano/South Tyrol (Italy) versus lower financial support in the province of Styria (Austria). We surveyed individual and collective investors, and as a control group, households who had not invested in photovoltaics at the time of data collection. We first compared crowding effects of diverging PV policies, and afterwards individual and collective socio-psychological patterns to grasp their role for photovoltaic adoption in general. Protecting the environment was found to be the strongest driver for photovoltaic investments. Generous state support in Italy widened demographics, crowded-in economic considerations and persons with an anthropocentric relationship towards nature. However, Italy’s high-incentivized photovoltaic policy crowded-out the motivations for collective energy projects and could not sufficiently encourage a sustainable diffusion of photovoltaics, as investments collapsed once state funding was stopped.

Suggested Citation

  • Braito, Michael & Flint, Courtney & Muhar, Andreas & Penker, Marianne & Vogel, Stefan, 2017. "Individual and collective socio-psychological patterns of photovoltaic investment under diverging policy regimes of Austria and Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 141-153.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:109:y:2017:i:c:p:141-153
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.063
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421517304172
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.063?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rode, Julian & Gómez-Baggethun, Erik & Krause, Torsten, 2015. "Motivation crowding by economic incentives in conservation policy: A review of the empirical evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 270-282.
    2. Cardenas, Juan-Camilo, 2004. "Norms from outside and from inside: an experimental analysis on the governance of local ecosystems," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(3-4), pages 229-241, June.
    3. Drury, Easan & Miller, Mackay & Macal, Charles M. & Graziano, Diane J. & Heimiller, Donna & Ozik, Jonathan & Perry IV, Thomas D., 2012. "The transformation of southern California's residential photovoltaics market through third-party ownership," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 681-690.
    4. Badcock, Jeremy & Lenzen, Manfred, 2010. "Subsidies for electricity-generating technologies: A review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 5038-5047, September.
    5. Perlaviciute, G. & Steg, L., 2015. "The influence of values on evaluations of energy alternatives," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 259-267.
    6. De Boeck, L. & Van Asch, S. & De Bruecker, P. & Audenaert, A., 2016. "Comparison of support policies for residential photovoltaic systems in the major EU markets through investment profitability," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(P1), pages 42-53.
    7. Nyborg, Karine & Rege, Mari, 2003. "Does Public Policy Crowd Out Private Contributions to Public Goods," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 115(3-4), pages 397-418, June.
    8. Dóci, Gabriella & Vasileiadou, Eleftheria, 2015. "“Let׳s do it ourselves” Individual motivations for investing in renewables at community level," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 41-50.
    9. Sven Müller & Johannes Rode, 2013. "The adoption of photovoltaic systems in Wiesbaden, Germany," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 519-535, July.
    10. del Río, Pablo & Burguillo, Mercedes, 2008. "Assessing the impact of renewable energy deployment on local sustainability: Towards a theoretical framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 1325-1344, June.
    11. Laurel Evans & Gregory R. Maio & Adam Corner & Carl J. Hodgetts & Sameera Ahmed & Ulrike Hahn, 2013. "Self-interest and pro-environmental behaviour," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 3(2), pages 122-125, February.
    12. Moosavian, S.M. & Rahim, N.A. & Selvaraj, J. & Solangi, K.H., 2013. "Energy policy to promote photovoltaic generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 44-58.
    13. Mayr, Dieter & Schmidt, Johannes & Schmid, Erwin, 2014. "The potentials of a reverse auction in allocating subsidies for cost-effective roof-top photovoltaic system deployment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 555-565.
    14. Dusonchet, Luigi & Telaretti, Enrico, 2010. "Economic analysis of different supporting policies for the production of electrical energy by solar photovoltaics in eastern European Union countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 4011-4020, August.
    15. Karakaya, Emrah & Sriwannawit, Pranpreya, 2015. "Barriers to the adoption of photovoltaic systems: The state of the art," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 60-66.
    16. Reinsberger, Kathrin & Brudermann, Thomas & Hatzl, Stefanie & Fleiß, Eva & Posch, Alfred, 2015. "Photovoltaic diffusion from the bottom-up: Analytical investigation of critical factors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 178-187.
    17. Eivind Hoff-Elimari & Anat Bardi & Simon Matti & Kristina Östman, 2014. "Collective action problems: Disentangling possible feedback loops between government policies and the public’s value-change," European Journal of Government and Economics, Europa Grande, vol. 3(1), pages 24-46, June.
    18. Uri Gneezy & Stephan Meier & Pedro Rey-Biel, 2011. "When and Why Incentives (Don't) Work to Modify Behavior," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(4), pages 191-210, Fall.
    19. Islam, Towhidul, 2014. "Household level innovation diffusion model of photo-voltaic (PV) solar cells from stated preference data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 340-350.
    20. Kerr, John & Vardhan, Mamta & Jindal, Rohit, 2012. "Prosocial behavior and incentives: Evidence from field experiments in rural Mexico and Tanzania," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 220-227.
    21. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    22. Christoph Engel & Michael Kurschilgen, 2011. "The Coevolution of Behavior and Normative Expectations. Customary Law in the Lab," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2011_32, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    23. Orioli, Aldo & Di Gangi, Alessandra, 2015. "The recent change in the Italian policies for photovoltaics: Effects on the payback period and levelized cost of electricity of grid-connected photovoltaic systems installed in urban contexts," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P2), pages 1989-2005.
    24. Poortinga, Wouter & Spence, Alexa & Demski, Christina & Pidgeon, Nick F., 2012. "Individual-motivational factors in the acceptability of demand-side and supply-side measures to reduce carbon emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 812-819.
    25. Hondo, Hiroki & Baba, Kenshi, 2010. "Socio-psychological impacts of the introduction of energy technologies: Change in environmental behavior of households with photovoltaic systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 229-235, January.
    26. Karakaya, Emrah & Hidalgo, Antonio & Nuur, Cali, 2015. "Motivators for adoption of photovoltaic systems at grid parity: A case study from Southern Germany," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1090-1098.
    27. Jager, Wander, 2006. "Stimulating the diffusion of photovoltaic systems: A behavioural perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1935-1943, September.
    28. Stephenson, Janet & Barton, Barry & Carrington, Gerry & Gnoth, Daniel & Lawson, Rob & Thorsnes, Paul, 2010. "Energy cultures: A framework for understanding energy behaviours," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 6120-6129, October.
    29. Johan Schot & Laur Kanger & Geert Verbong, 2016. "The roles of users in shaping transitions to new energy systems," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(5), pages 1-7, May.
    30. Sarasa-Maestro, Carlos J. & Dufo-López, Rodolfo & Bernal-Agustín, José L., 2013. "Photovoltaic remuneration policies in the European Union," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 317-328.
    31. Bryan Bollinger & Kenneth Gillingham, 2012. "Peer Effects in the Diffusion of Solar Photovoltaic Panels," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(6), pages 900-912, November.
    32. Dusonchet, Luigi & Telaretti, Enrico, 2010. "Economic analysis of different supporting policies for the production of electrical energy by solar photovoltaics in western European Union countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3297-3308, July.
    33. Anna Alberini, Silvia Banfi, and Celine Ramseier, 2013. "Energy Efficiency Investments in the Home: Swiss Homeowners and Expectations about Future Energy Prices," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    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. Alipour, M. & Salim, H. & Stewart, Rodney A. & Sahin, Oz, 2020. "Predictors, taxonomy of predictors, and correlations of predictors with the decision behaviour of residential solar photovoltaics adoption: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    2. Punda, Luka & Capuder, Tomislav & Pandžić, Hrvoje & Delimar, Marko, 2017. "Integration of renewable energy sources in southeast Europe: A review of incentive mechanisms and feasibility of investments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 77-88.
    3. Sommerfeldt, Nelson & Madani, Hatef, 2017. "Revisiting the techno-economic analysis process for building-mounted, grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems: Part one – Review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1379-1393.
    4. Antonelli, Marco & Desideri, Umberto, 2014. "The doping effect of Italian feed-in tariffs on the PV market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 583-594.
    5. Nurwidiana Nurwidiana & Bertha Maya Sopha & Adhika Widyaparaga, 2022. "Simulating Socio-Technical Transitions of Photovoltaics Using Empirically Based Hybrid Simulation-Optimization Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-25, April.
    6. Emily Schulte & Fabian Scheller & Daniel Sloot & Thomas Bruckner, 2021. "A meta-analysis of residential PV adoption: the important role of perceived benefits, intentions and antecedents in solar energy acceptance," Papers 2112.12464, arXiv.org.
    7. Fabian Scheller & Isabel Doser & Daniel Sloot & Russell McKenna & Thomas Bruckner, 2020. "Exploring the Role of Stakeholder Dynamics in Residential Photovoltaic Adoption Decisions: A Synthesis of the Literature," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-31, November.
    8. Yamashiro, Ririka & Mori, Akihisa, 2023. "Combined third-party ownership and aggregation business model for the adoption of rooftop solar PV–battery systems: Implications from the case of Miyakojima Island, Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    9. Alipour, M. & Irannezhad, Elnaz & Stewart, Rodney A. & Sahin, Oz, 2022. "Exploring residential solar PV and battery energy storage adoption motivations and barriers in a mature PV market," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 684-698.
    10. Escobar, P. & Martínez, E. & Saenz-Díez, J.C. & Jiménez, E. & Blanco, J., 2020. "Profitability of self-consumption solar PV system in Spanish households: A perspective based on European regulations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 746-755.
    11. Kowalska-Pyzalska, Anna & Maciejowska, Katarzyna & Suszczyński, Karol & Sznajd-Weron, Katarzyna & Weron, Rafał, 2014. "Turning green: Agent-based modeling of the adoption of dynamic electricity tariffs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 164-174.
    12. Selvakkumaran, Sujeetha & Ahlgren, Erik O., 2019. "Determining the factors of household energy transitions: A multi-domain study," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 54-75.
    13. Heiskanen, Eva & Matschoss, Kaisa, 2017. "Understanding the uneven diffusion of building-scale renewable energy systems: A review of household, local and country level factors in diverse European countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 580-591.
    14. Palm, A., 2020. "Early adopters and their motives: Differences between earlier and later adopters of residential solar photovoltaics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    15. Antonelli, Marco & Desideri, Umberto, 2014. "Do feed-in tariffs drive PV cost or viceversa?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 721-729.
    16. Aldo Orioli & Vincenzo Franzitta & Alessandra Di Gangi & Ferdinando Foresta, 2016. "The Recent Change in the Italian Policies for Photovoltaics: Effects on the Energy Demand Coverage of Grid-Connected PV Systems Installed in Urban Contexts," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-31, November.
    17. 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.
    18. Orioli, Aldo & Di Gangi, Alessandra, 2017. "Six-years-long effects of the Italian policies for photovoltaics on the pay-back period of grid-connected PV systems installed in urban contexts," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 458-470.
    19. Londo, Marc & Matton, Robin & Usmani, Omar & van Klaveren, Marieke & Tigchelaar, Casper & Brunsting, Suzanne, 2020. "Alternatives for current net metering policy for solar PV in the Netherlands: A comparison of impacts on business case and purchasing behaviour of private homeowners, and on governmental costs," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 903-915.
    20. Palm, Alvar & Lantz, Björn, 2020. "Information dissemination and residential solar PV adoption rates: The effect of an information campaign in Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:109:y:2017:i:c:p:141-153. 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.