Prosumer Cooperation Behavior: Implications for Prosumer Community Design

Abstract

The decentralization of the energy sector's infrastructure is commonly understood as an important step towards an efficient and sustainable energy system. However, technical measures only have a limited impact on the systems goals. The decentralization of decision-making, the empowerment of households and the occurrence of prosumer communities require more human-centric approaches to meet future challenges; the application of the subsidiarity principle and decentralization seems inevitable but also unclear in its implementation in an energy system, the cooperation behavior of community members gains in importance and the design of prosumer communities must overcome economic problems. This article emphasizes the human-centered challenges which go along with prosumer communities. We apply economic principles to reveal major problems which go with the shifts in energy-related decision-making towards prosumers and integrate behavioral science for prosumer community design. We highlight the importance of energy as an interpersonal construct; a view on energy which will gain in importance within a prosumer communities shaped network.