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Pleasure is the profit - The adoption of solar PV systems by households in Finland

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  • Karjalainen, Sami
  • Ahvenniemi, Hannele
Abstract
Decentralized energy production offers households considerable potential to support the attainment of climate targets. This study focuses on solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption in Finland, where the adoption of solar PV systems is still at a low level. The study asks how adopters have overcome the barriers to adopting solar PV systems. A special interest lies in the user experience of solar PV systems. Twenty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain an understanding of the experiences of Finnish pioneer households. The results show that the adopters have overcome the barriers to adoption with the help of trustworthy information and advice from experts and from other adopters. The adopters are very satisfied with their PV plants even though economic profitability is not particularly good. The adopters actively monitor their energy production and are highly engaged in domestic energy matters. Many have enlarged their solar PV system or plan to do so, or are highly interested in upgrading their energy system with an electric car or advanced home automation. The adopters find pleasure in producing pollution-free energy effortlessly and being able to deliver information about clean energy production to others through their own installations.

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  • Karjalainen, Sami & Ahvenniemi, Hannele, 2019. "Pleasure is the profit - The adoption of solar PV systems by households in Finland," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 44-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:133:y:2019:i:c:p:44-52
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.10.011
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    Cited by:

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    12. 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.
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    14. Marko Milojević & Paweł Nowodziński & Ivica Terzić & Svetlana Danshina, 2021. "Households’ Energy Autonomy: Risks or Benefits for a State?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, April.
    15. Murto, Pekka & Jalas, Mikko & Juntunen, Jouni & Hyysalo, Sampsa, 2019. "The difficult process of adopting a comprehensive energy retrofit in housing companies: Barriers posed by nascent markets and complicated calculability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 955-964.
    16. Evangelos Panos & Stavroula Margelou, 2019. "Long-Term Solar Photovoltaics Penetration in Single- and Two-Family Houses in Switzerland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-33, June.
    17. Gaigalis, Vygandas & Katinas, Vladislovas, 2020. "Analysis of the renewable energy implementation and prediction prospects in compliance with the EU policy: A case of Lithuania," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1016-1027.
    18. Wichsinee Wibulpolprasert & Umnouy Ponsukcharoen & Siripha Junlakarn & Sopitsuda Tongsopit, 2021. "Preliminarily Screening Geographical Hotspots for New Rooftop PV Installation: A Case Study in Thailand," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-30, June.
    19. 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).
    20. Jouttijärvi, Sami & Lobaccaro, Gabriele & Kamppinen, Aleksi & Miettunen, Kati, 2022. "Benefits of bifacial solar cells combined with low voltage power grids at high latitudes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    21. Murto, P. & Jalas, M. & Juntunen, J. & Hyysalo, S., 2019. "Devices and strategies: An analysis of managing complexity in energy retrofit projects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1-1.

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