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Sharing Urban Renewable Energy Generation Systems as Private Energy Commons

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Smart and Sustainable Cities and Buildings

Abstract

This study tested a new methodology for simulating shared electricity generation among small groups of neighbours with Ostrom (1994) principles of common pool resource (CPR) (human behaviour-based) efficiencies. The approach does not anticipate exclusive off-grid communities, but instead, diverse energy users taking advantage of the averaging effects of aggregation, the social benefits of a CPR, and direct action on emissions. The study tested three groups of 5 adjacent- or same-building-neighbours for 3 months, to measure how electricity demand (import) is affected by an in-home display issuing nudges and sanctions by the group around a simulated (limited capacity) shared solar and battery system. A control group of 6 homes’ energy data was obtained for the same period. All three groups reduced their energy demand with weak but significant correlation between stimulus and reduced energy demand, and one group significantly shifted demand toward available shared solar energy resources during the intervention.

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Acknowledgement

This research was funded along with scholarship RP5005 supported by the Low Carbon Living CRC.

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Correspondence to Craig Burton .

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Burton, C., Candy, S., Rismanchi, B. (2020). Sharing Urban Renewable Energy Generation Systems as Private Energy Commons. In: Roggema, R., Roggema, A. (eds) Smart and Sustainable Cities and Buildings. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37635-2_28

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