In the post-subsidy era: How to encourage mere consumers to become prosumers when subsidy reduced?

Abstract

With the forthcoming post-subsidy era, how to incentivize consumers to become solar prosumers is a critical issue. Considering the prosuming-value perception, we proposed a Comprehensive Behavior Determination Model (CBDM) to study consumers' intention of becoming solar prosumers, based on the theory of planned behavior and the theory of consumer perceived value. Using a combination of latent and observed variables within a non-linear structural equation model, our analysis identifies the key driving factors of becoming prosumers based on a large-scale survey of 14,646 respondents. We found that perceived value is vital in driving consumers' transformation intention. Especially in the developed southern regions, the perceived benefit (i.e., earnings from selling electricity) exerts the most significant influence on consumers' intention to become prosumers. Differently, in the northern regions’ rural areas, subjective norms play a vital role in driving consumers to become prosumers as they are more influenced by their social surroundings (e.g., neighbors, village chief). In the undeveloped western regions, consumers usually have more knowledge about solar panels, while they have lower perceived behavioral control due to constrained external conditions such as insufficient funds, subsidy defaults, etc.