IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i13p4763-d851218.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Digital Support Platform for Community Energy: One-Stop-Shop Architecture, Development and Evaluation

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Hill

    (Department of Electrical and Electronic, Munster Technological University, T12 P928 Cork, Ireland)

  • Annie Duffy

    (Department of Electrical and Electronic, Munster Technological University, T12 P928 Cork, Ireland)

Abstract

In the European energy market, the community energy sector is earmarked to make a significant contribution to the transition from fossil fuels to sustainable sources. Based on the diffusion of innovation model, large-scale development of community energy requires that the concept and the success of existing energy communities be widely communicated to potential participants and that user confidence be developed over time. In this paper, we present the architecture, design, prototyping, and testing of a digital support platform, co-designed with EU-wide energy communities, to support this process. The platform has been designed to engage early-stage or ongoing groups to progress projects and to connect and share experiences with other communities. This “community of communities” creates the necessary communication channel defined in the Diffusion of Innovation model. A transactional architecture for such a platform is outlined with clear links to all community energy actors. Based on this architecture, a prototype one-stop-shop (OSS) implementation is presented. Feedback gathered and lessons learned from beta testing with a representative group of end-users are outlined. The OSS architecture shows potential as a communications channel to expand the community energy concept and as a monitoring tool to track the progress of the energy community sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Hill & Annie Duffy, 2022. "A Digital Support Platform for Community Energy: One-Stop-Shop Architecture, Development and Evaluation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:13:p:4763-:d:851218
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/13/4763/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/13/4763/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Tilson & Kalle Lyytinen & Carsten Sørensen, 2010. "Research Commentary ---Digital Infrastructures: The Missing IS Research Agenda," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 21(4), pages 748-759, December.
    2. Gjorgievski, Vladimir Z. & Cundeva, Snezana & Georghiou, George E., 2021. "Social arrangements, technical designs and impacts of energy communities: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1138-1156.
    3. Inês, Campos & Guilherme, Pontes Luz & Esther, Marín-González & Swantje, Gährs & Stephen, Hall & Lars, Holstenkamp, 2020. "Regulatory challenges and opportunities for collective renewable energy prosumers in the EU," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    4. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    5. Lei Qi & Jing Guo, 2019. "Development of smart city community service integrated management platform," International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, , vol. 15(6), pages 15501477198, June.
    6. Seyfang, Gill & Park, Jung Jin & Smith, Adrian, 2013. "A thousand flowers blooming? An examination of community energy in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 977-989.
    7. de Reuver, Mark & Sørensen, Carsten & Basole, Rahul C., 2018. "The digital platform: a research agenda," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 80669, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Florian Hanke & Jens Lowitzsch, 2020. "Empowering Vulnerable Consumers to Join Renewable Energy Communities—Towards an Inclusive Design of the Clean Energy Package," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-27, April.
    9. Brummer, Vasco, 2018. "Community energy – benefits and barriers: A comparative literature review of Community Energy in the UK, Germany and the USA, the benefits it provides for society and the barriers it faces," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 187-196.
    10. Grillitsch, Markus & Hansen, Teis & Coenen, Lars & Miörner, Johan & Moodysson, Jerker, 2019. "Innovation policy for system-wide transformation: The case of strategic innovation programmes (SIPs) in Sweden," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 1048-1061.
    11. Mirzania, Pegah & Ford, Andy & Andrews, Deborah & Ofori, George & Maidment, Graeme, 2019. "The impact of policy changes: The opportunities of Community Renewable Energy projects in the UK and the barriers they face," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1282-1296.
    12. Busch, Henner & Ruggiero, Salvatore & Isakovic, Aljosa & Hansen, Teis, 2021. "Policy challenges to community energy in the EU: A systematic review of the scientific literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Angelos Patsidis & Adam Dyśko & Campbell Booth & Anastasios Oulis Rousis & Polyxeni Kalliga & Dimitrios Tzelepis, 2023. "Digital Architecture for Monitoring and Operational Analytics of Multi-Vector Microgrids Utilizing Cloud Computing, Advanced Virtualization Techniques, and Data Analytics Methods," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-19, August.
    2. Daniele Menniti & Anna Pinnarelli & Nicola Sorrentino & Pasquale Vizza & Giuseppe Barone & Giovanni Brusco & Stefano Mendicino & Luca Mendicino & Gaetano Polizzi, 2022. "Enabling Technologies for Energy Communities: Some Experimental Use Cases," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-26, August.

    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. Jenny Palm, 2021. "The Transposition of Energy Communities into Swedish Regulations: Overview and Critique of Emerging Regulations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-15, August.
    2. Gjorgievski, Vladimir Z. & Cundeva, Snezana & Georghiou, George E., 2021. "Social arrangements, technical designs and impacts of energy communities: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1138-1156.
    3. Maria Rosaria Di Nucci & Michael Krug & Lucas Schwarz & Vincenzo Gatta & Erik Laes, 2023. "Learning from Other Community Renewable Energy Projects: Transnational Transfer of Multi-Functional Energy Gardens from the Netherlands to Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Bauwens, Thomas & Schraven, Daan & Drewing, Emily & Radtke, Jörg & Holstenkamp, Lars & Gotchev, Boris & Yildiz, Özgür, 2022. "Conceptualizing community in energy systems: A systematic review of 183 definitions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    5. Nuñez-Jimenez, Alejandro & Mehta, Prakhar & Griego, Danielle, 2023. "Let it grow: How community solar policy can increase PV adoption in cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    6. Kubli, Merla & Puranik, Sanket, 2023. "A typology of business models for energy communities: Current and emerging design options," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    7. Haji Bashi, Mazaher & De Tommasi, Luciano & Le Cam, Andreea & Relaño, Lorena Sánchez & Lyons, Padraig & Mundó, Joana & Pandelieva-Dimova, Ivanka & Schapp, Henrik & Loth-Babut, Karolina & Egger, Christ, 2023. "A review and mapping exercise of energy community regulatory challenges in European member states based on a survey of collective energy actors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    8. Lisa Hanna Broska & Stefan Vögele & Hawal Shamon & Inga Wittenberg, 2022. "On the Future(s) of Energy Communities in the German Energy Transition: A Derivation of Transformation Pathways," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-31, March.
    9. Conradie, Peter D. & De Ruyck, Olivia & Saldien, Jelle & Ponnet, Koen, 2021. "Who wants to join a renewable energy community in Flanders? Applying an extended model of Theory of Planned Behaviour to understand intent to participate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    10. Adam X. Hearn & Raul Castaño-Rosa, 2021. "Towards a Just Energy Transition, Barriers and Opportunities for Positive Energy District Creation in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    11. Michael Krug & Maria Rosaria Di Nucci & Lucas Schwarz & Irene Alonso & Isabel Azevedo & Massimo Bastiani & Anna Dyląg & Erik Laes & Arthur Hinsch & Gaidis Klāvs & Ivars Kudreņickis & Pouyan Maleki & G, 2023. "Implementing European Union Provisions and Enabling Frameworks for Renewable Energy Communities in Nine Countries: Progress, Delays, and Gaps," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-29, May.
    12. Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu & Siyami Alp Limoncuoglu & Muhittin Hakan Demir & Johannes Reichl & Katrin Burgstaller & Alessandro Sciullo & Edoardo Ferrero, 2021. "Legal Provisions and Market Conditions for Energy Communities in Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey: A Comparative Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-25, October.
    13. Busch, Henner & Ruggiero, Salvatore & Isakovic, Aljosa & Hansen, Teis, 2021. "Policy challenges to community energy in the EU: A systematic review of the scientific literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    14. Vernay, Anne-Lorène & Olsthoorn, Mark & Sebi, Carine & Gauthier, Caroline, 2023. "The identity trap of community renewable energy in France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    15. Dalia Streimikiene & Tomas Baležentis & Artiom Volkov & Mangirdas Morkūnas & Agnė Žičkienė & Justas Streimikis, 2021. "Barriers and Drivers of Renewable Energy Penetration in Rural Areas," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-28, October.
    16. F.G. Reis, Inês & Gonçalves, Ivo & A.R. Lopes, Marta & Henggeler Antunes, Carlos, 2021. "Business models for energy communities: A review of key issues and trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    17. Herbes, Carsten & Rilling, Benedikt & Holstenkamp, Lars, 2021. "Ready for new business models? Human and social capital in the management of renewable energy cooperatives in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    18. Vernay, Anne-Lorène & Sebi, Carine, 2020. "Energy communities and their ecosystems: A comparison of France and the Netherlands," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    19. Švarc, Jadranka & Dabić, Marina, 2021. "Transformative innovation policy or how to escape peripheral policy paradox in European research peripheral countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    20. Lorenzo De Vidovich & Luca Tricarico & Matteo Zulianello, 2023. "How Can We Frame Energy Communities’ Organisational Models? Insights from the Research ‘Community Energy Map’ in the Italian Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-25, January.

    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:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:13:p:4763-:d:851218. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.