Working towards a consumer-centric energy system

In order for a consumer-centric energy system to succeed, consumers must understand the role that they can play in an increasingly complex energy world, and choose how they would like to engage with it. My research found that one of the reasons for the great success of rooftop solar PV in Australia is that solar energy was relatively easy for consumers to understand, and makes energy decision-making more tangible. Solar households and businesses understand that a solar system sitting on their rooftops will feed electricity directly into their home or business, and that solar energy will only be available to them while the sun is shining. On this basis, they understand they can shift their energy consumption depending on whether the sun is in or out, and that this will result in changes to their energy bills. They are, inherently, actively engaging with an effective time-of-use tariff.