Material energy citizenship through participation in citizen-financed photovoltaic projects

Background

Citizens are recognized as key actors in the energy system’s transformation by assuming novel roles beyond being mere energy consumers. Participation in renewable energy projects increases societal support and renders the decarbonization of the energy system more inclusive. Increasing numbers of citizen-financed photovoltaic (CiFi PV) projects exemplify this. Empirical studies on individuals who participate in CiFi PV, their perceived role(s), and their motivations, however, are scarce. This study addresses this gap through the lens of energy citizenship by analyzing individual participation.

Methods

The study surveyed CiFi PV participants across five projects in Switzerland (N = 510). After a comparison of the participants’ characteristics to the general public and a descriptive analysis of the perceived roles to participate, the study explores the individual motivations of participants. To that end, a motivational attributes scale, including finance, environment, local value creation, and symbolism, was adapted from a previous study. A hierarchical multiple linear regression was used to analyze which motivational attributes predict participants’ willingness to participate in future CiFi PV projects.

Results

While participants were primarily male, more affluent, better educated and politically more left-leaning than the average Swiss population, participants covered a wide range of sociodemographic characteristics and worldviews. Though CiFi PV is primarily marketed toward tenants, half of the participants were homeowners. Participants perceived themselves as energy citizens contributing to the energy transition and environmental preservation rather than as investors or energy producers. The regression analysis shows that motivations are relevant in explaining willingness to participate in future CiFi PV projects. We found that environmental, financial and local value creation-related motivational attributes are highly significant predictors, as well as slightly less significant symbolic attributes.

Conclusions

These results suggest that CiFi PV projects represent a material form of energy citizenship going beyond mere consumerism by enabling individuals to contribute to the energy transition. Given their capacity to engage diverse publics, policymakers should endorse projects emphasizing individual participation alongside non-commercial community-based models. This would require their integration into existing regulatory frameworks. Future energy citizenship studies should further explore how individuals perceive and conceptualize what it means to be an energy citizen.