ERA-NET Integreting households in the smart grid

The IHSMAG-project aims to develop knowledge about the integration of new smart energy technologies in households, and to explore how this knowledge can assist designers, policymakers and others who are involved in shaping the transition to smart electricity grids. One of the goals of the IHSMG project is to study the relationship between the broader policy setting, the electricity system and the smart grid. To this end, we have studied the construction of Norwegian policy on smart meters. However, policies alone make nothing happen. The actual implementation of the new smart energy technologies in Norway has so far largely happened in demonstration projects scattered across the country. Recently, focus has been on the smart meter roll-out. Based on interviews with key actors, we have seen that demos include numerous technologies, different actor-constellations, have different goals, and conceptualize users differently in Norway. For instance, a healthcare/electricity industry alliance resulted in a focus on simplicity, while a construction industry/electricity industry-merger led to exploring how passive houses, renewables and smart grids shape practices. As smart grids are innovations in the making, so we cannot predict which models will prevail. However, ample time has been given to experiment, which should ensure social learning and again be positive for smart grid developments. User perspectives have been included through two Norwegian studies. The first study shows that users have different attitudes towards smart grids: some are skeptical, some are pragmatic and some are enthusiastic. Some users also engage actively with smart meters on the political level and want have a more active role in the energy system. They do not want to be reduced to self-centered price driven consumers, but rather want to be framed as more community or society driven engaged energy citizens. The other Norwegian study looks at the domestication of feedback technologies in Norwegian households. It shows that for a few, very technologically competent and oriented inhabitants (usually men), the current smart metering technology works well. However, these persons struggle to involve the rest of the household in active energy management. The feedback technology is mostly used to implement one-time changes (new heaters, better insulation etc.), but more active and flexible energy use involving the rest of the household was rarely seen in our sample. In Denmark, the focus has been twofold. 1) Combining dynamic pricing schemes and Electric Vehicles. 2) On EVs more generally. EVs are important, both because they might pose a challenge to the grid because of new charging practices, and because their battery storage could be used to balance the grid. One result from Denmark is that the combining EVs and dynamic pricing imply spill-over effects in relation to time shifting within other areas of consumption (e.g. laundering). The Danish study shows that all interviewed households moved parts of their electricity consumption to the night (when the electricity price is low) and that it did not only apply to the charging of the electric vehicle batteries. Families also shifted other electricity consumption to the night (particularly dish washing, washing of clothes and use of tumble dryers). Thus, time-shifting of electricity consumption is not only related to the EV. Further, the study indicates that dynamic pricing based on fixed intervals is easier to understand compared to schemes based on continuously changing prices. Another type of identified spillover effect is more negative: branding of EVs as an environmental solution seems to some degree suppress other, more sustainable practices such as walking, biking. The study show further that time-shifting is dependent on type of house and other socio-economic factors, and that it may interfere with much cherished household practices, particularly as a result of problems with noise. In Spain Technalia and ZIV Metering observed problems of interoperability, development of communication standards, lack of household appliances with communication and control capabilities, lack of on-line consumption display devices and the necessity of keeping a balance between reachable information and privacy data. Technalia developed a demand-management portal, which is to connect to household applications such as refrigerators, heat pumps and air-conditioners, controllable by in-home displays and an android app. This equipment was tested in the Henares Corridor near Madrid. Knowledge gained from the user studies in Norway and Denmark informed the design of the display. Overall recommendations for how to best develop and design smart grid projects involving households was developed on basis of the result from the IHSMAG project. These advices are discussed in a report on design criteria targeted towards policy makers and experts seeking to develop smart grid solutions for the future.