Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
The expansion of renewable energies and the transformation of the energy system stands and falls with the support of the stakeholders on site. Therefore, we research questions of acceptance, existing barriers and conflicts in order to support clients both in the implementation of RE projects, of energy products and in questions of regulatory design and to identify options for action.
Our clients benefit in many ways from our socio-scientific analyses and many years of expertise: Our studies provide clients with a reliable, quantified assessment of whether an intended target group is willing to invest. By means of our stakeholder acceptance analyses, clients receive social acceptance maps with relevant topois and design suggestions. Thanks to our barrier analyses, we identify for our clients barriers that stand in the way of market diffusion or measures, as well as proposals for measures to remove the barriers so that nothing stands in the way of successful implementation.
For your question, we develop an analysis and consulting framework from our repertoire of methods such as experimental designs (e.g. choice experiments), quantitative questionnaire studies, acceptance analysis frameworks, stakeholder decision analyses, focus groups, expert interviews and future methods (e.g. foresight, scenario techniques), in which we focus on the relevant factors.
We map our social science knowledge in SystemDynamics models, which we can use to evaluate planned urban development projects. In addition, the SystemDynamics models enable us to transfer socio-scientific contexts into serious games and other multimedia communication formats.
We conduct our social science analyses in all relevant energy technologies and have particular scientific experience in photovoltaics - including agri-PV and floating PV -, heat technologies, energy efficiency and comfort in buildings, storage systems and hydrogen, smart grid technologies as well as "Positive Energy District" and "Climate Neutral Neighborhoods".