Improving the Social Acceptability of Microgrids

The smart grid will have to occupy a prominent place in people's lives in the years to come, as the renewable energy mix desired by all governments implies a change of role from consumer to prosumer (contraction of the consumer to producer) of electricity. The adoption of micro smart grid technology, which links solar panels, batteries, and inverters to smart meters and power regulation algorithms, by a community (e.g., a residential sector), cannot be done automatically. This is what we studied in Switzerland, based on a qualitative survey (12 semi-structured interviews and 4 focus groups) to understand the psychological and social barriers, which prevent people from integrating such a technology. The results show that restraining forces are more important than driving forces and therefore that governments need to tackle the problem of social acceptance of smart grids before focusing on mainly technological aspects in their long-term energy and environmental policies.