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McKenna, 2014, Demand response behaviour of domestic consumers with PV.pdf (774.31 kB)

Demand response behaviour of domestic consumers with photovoltaic systems in the UK: an exploratory analysis of an internet discussion forum

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journal contribution
posted on 2014-07-17, 14:06 authored by Eoghan McKenna, Murray ThomsonMurray Thomson
Background: Domestic consumers with photovoltaic (PV) systems in the UK can benefit financially by time-shifting their electricity demand to coincide with the output of the PV. This behaviour is a form of demand response and can provide insights into demand response behaviour more generally. This paper investigates whether people with PV in the UK engage in demand response, what appliances are used, and whether benefitting from free, self-produced electricity appears to influence their behaviour. Methods: To achieve this, the approach presented here consists of an exploratory text analysis of an internet discussion forum frequented by consumers with PV in the UK. Results: Data was gathered on 105 forum participants with PV, of which 45 mentioned engaging in demand response, for example by changing cooking or cleaning practices. Washing machines, dishwashers and electric space and water heaters were the most commonly used appliances for demand response. Six participants engaged in demand response and yet received no direct financial benefit from this behaviour, while 14 participants specifically mentioned the influence of free electricity. Conclusions: The results illustrate novel demand response behaviour compared to previous studies and indicate that while price may be an effective initiator for demand response, there are additional factors beyond price that can enhance responses. The discussion considers the application of these factors to the development of innovative demand tariffs for low-carbon futures.

Funding

This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) [grant number EP/G031681/1]

History

School

  • Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering

Research Unit

  • Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST)

Published in

Energy, Sustainability and Society

Volume

4

Issue

13

Pages

? - ? (12)

Citation

MCKENNA, E. and THOMSON, M., 2014. Demand response behaviour of domestic consumers with photovoltaic systems in the UK: an exploratory analysis of an internet discussion forum. Energy, Sustainability and Society, 4 (13), 12pp.

Publisher

© McKenna and Thomson; licensee Springer

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Publication date

2014

Notes

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.energsustainsoc.com/content/4/1/13

ISSN

2192-0567

Language

  • en

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