Adopters’ perceptions of solar PV business models
Ladda ner
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Management and economics of innovation (MPMEI), MSc
Publicerad
2022
Författare
Johansson, Leonardo
Dahm, Jacob
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
The increasingly severe effects of climate change puts pressure on society to decarbonize the
economy, of which the energy sector constitutes an integral sector to transform. In facilitating the
introduction of renewable energy technologies (RETs), innovative business models (BMs) have been
highlighted as playing an important role - in particular for solar photovoltaics (PV). However,
diffusion of solar PV is still dependent on individual adopters deciding to invest in these BMs, and
there is a lack of research regarding how adopters perceive the available BMs. In order to accelerate
the sustainable transition, we need to acquire a qualitative understanding of how adopters make sense
of the solar PV BMs. To this end, the thesis sets out to answer how adopters’ perceive the different
BMs for solar PV. Sweden provides a suitable context in which to conduct the study, as a large,
heterogeneous group of solar PV adopters have developed since the liberalisation of the energy
market.
Through semi-structured interviews with residential and commercial adopters, data was collected on
the adopters’ perceptions of the different BMs for solar PV. More specifically, the thesis identifies the
perceived value and perceived missing value of the respective BMs. The findings show that adopters
generally prefer host-owned (HO) BMs compared to third-party-ownership (TPO) BMs - they are
perceived as more economical, ensuring control and stability and reducing the complexity of the
adoption process of solar PV. Furthermore, the adopters’ perception can be considered to be
influenced by a combination of system-level components, the characteristics of the innovation and the
characteristics of the adopters - based on these factors, the adopters develop their own internal
reasoning for their preference of the BMs. A model is proposed, synthesising the main influencing
factors and providing a springboard for further research in this area.
The findings of the thesis have significant implications for policy makers. To facilitate wide-spread
diffusion of solar PV, policy makers should strive to generate heterogeneity in the solar PV BMs that
are being adopted. This can be achieved by acknowledging the derived perceptions of the adopters,
and addressing the perceived missing value of the BMs. Moreover, policy makers should take the
factors that influence perception into account when designing new policy instruments.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
solar PV , diffusion of innovation , adopter , business models , sustainable transition , perception