Understanding public participation in community shared energy storage: Formative mechanism of willingness and subsequent behavior diffusion process

While substantial research has been devoted to the advancement of energy storage technology, the exploration of public attitudes or adoption willingness towards this technology remains comparatively limited. This paucity of research hinders the widespread application of energy storage technology. Community shared energy storage (CSES) is a practical model of energy storage systems for the public user side. Based on the ABC (Affect, Behavior, and Cognition) model of attitudes, this study constructed a theoretical model for the formative mechanism of public willingness to participate in CSES (WTPIC). Through empirical research conducted in Guangzhou, China, it is clarified that energy storage cognition (ESC) has a significant positive impact on WTPIC. Second, enhancing prosuming-value perception and reducing perceived risk are the main mechanisms by which ESC affects WTPIC. Third, personal innovativeness and community identity have a moderating effect at different stages. Finally, further simulation experiments revealed that the behavior of refusing to participate in CSES has a high diffusion rate and depth. Meanwhile, the positive effects of information incentive policies and economic incentive policies have been supported. This study enhances the understanding of public energy storage behavior and helps promote the diversified application of user-side energy storage.