Who to turn to?: Information collaging and peer information in hybrid renewable adoption

The adoption of renewable small-scale energy technologies (S-RET) into hybrid heating solutions consisting of several energy technologies is rapidly increasing in the domestic sector. The adoption of hybrid S-RET involves an information intensive process in fitting a combination of new technologies to existing energy and building infrastructure. The specifics of hybrid S-RET adoption processes and the related information acquisition processes have not been covered by previous research. We explore this through an in-depth interview study with 56 Finnish detached house owners with hybrid solutions. We find that hybrid S-RET adoption differs importantly from one-time single S-RET adoption as it involves an ongoing learning process to learn and install multiple technologies in conjunction to each other. During this process, adopters use a wide range of information sources out of which peer provided information is regarded the most often used (53/56) as well as being the most important source due to its practical and contextualized nature. Supplier and government provided information sources and energy counseling services are regarded as less useful and consulted less often, which undermines the central role which literature on single S-RET adoption gives to energy counseling. It is pertinent to think how peer exchanges that commonly take place in Internet discussion forums can be better connected to energy counseling to better serve citizens’ needs and information search preferences and boost the adoption and operation of hybrid heating solutions. • The adoption of hybrid solutions includes an extended learning process by adopters. • Peers offer most relevant information for the customized solutions. • Public energy counseling services were not utilized by hybrid heaters. • Online and offline peer networks could be leveraged to support energy transition.