Consumer roles in the future electricity system

Abstract

Electricity systems are complicated and are becoming more complicated as they accommodate social demands, political demands, and consumer demands. The aim of this thesis is to increase our understanding of consumer roles in the future electricity system to help balance these technical, social, political and consumer demands. Solutions for technical problems in the electricity system are only going to be solved with the participation of the consumer and this consumer engagement is complex. This thesis goes part of the way to understanding this consumer role and how policy could influence the development of the consumer roles in the electricity system.

The first research phase in this thesis is to analyse Australian household solar photovoltaics (PV) uptake data. This analysis develops a model of Australian PV adoption and gives some understanding of consumer roles in the future electricity system. This understanding is through a statistical analysis of the 1.6 million PV installations in Australia between 2001 and 2016 and includes temporal ARIMA modelling.

The second research phase in this thesis is via interviews of energy leaders in Australia and Europe. These interviews outline a transition framework for consumer roles in the electricity system. Interviewees included energy experts, politicians, businesses, and consumer advocates. Quantitative and qualitative analysis showed a low level of confidence in Australian energy policy but a high confidence in business solutions.

Analysis of the interview data contributes to an understanding of consumer roles in the future electricity system and offers evidentiary arguments.

The original contribution to knowledge of this research is a temporal model of PV adoption in Australia, a policy framework to address PV overvoltage and a transition framework for consumer roles in the electricity system. All three are credible inputs for energy policy.