A health research interdisciplinary approach for energy studies: Confirming substantial rebound effects among solar photovoltaic households in Germany

Abstract

Interdisciplinary research is common in health studies and is developing in energy studies. This paper describes the process of interdisciplinary energy research in a large, three-year study of rebound effects among German households with photovoltaic panels (“prosumers”). The study aimed to estimate whether, and by how much, prosumers increase their electricity consumption as a consequence of installing photovoltaics. This is important because these rebound effects can thwart government goals for decarbonising electricity generation. However, the main focus of this paper is on the interdisciplinary process of obtaining our results. Our three research teams investigated rebound effects via qualitative interviews, a country-wide quantitative survey, and an analysis of self-reported consumption data. Following a classic interdisciplinary model from health studies we then brought our findings together in a series of carefully planned and led discussions, where the contradictions between the three sets of results led to new insights. We then took the interdisciplinary process a step further, as the research teams re-analysed their data from this fresh perspective. This led to consensus and the novel finding that Germany’s current regulatory and pricing regime inadvertently rewards prosumers who over-consume electricity, thereby compromising policy goals. The success of the process was due to: embedding interdisciplinarity in the initial research planning and funding application; constant interactions throughout the research period; respect for each other’s different disciplinary approaches; strong and well-coordinated leadership of inter-team discussions; and the novel extension of each team revisiting and reanalysing its data on the basis of the insights from these discussions.