VISE H

Energy suppliers and energy service providers have little information on the determinants of their customers' energy demand behavior, especially in households. A detailed analysis of these expectations and requirements of private energy consumers is the prerequisite for successful technology diffusion and for developing new business models. The subproject "Households" within the framework of the Virtual Institute Smart Energy (VISE) analyses private households' willingness to invest in smart technologies.

More specifically, the Wuppertal Institute studies the perceived needs and co-benefits of private households regarding smart home technologies. The goal is to explain intentions to adopt smart home devices. On the one hand, smart homes could raise efficiency potentials and reduce energy consumption. On the other hand, applications in the areas of health and security, for example, are increasingly being offered on the market. The study is carried out in three steps:

• First, a representative quantitative survey of households in North Rhine-Westphalia will be conducted. Consumers' intention to adopt smart home technologies will be examined, particularly regarding co-benefits such as security, health, comfort, and data security.
• Secondly, three innovation workshops will be held. The focus will be on what needs should smart technologies meet in the future – beyond their technological applicability? And how the technical development of smart products and services can be designed according to individual needs?
• Thirdly, qualitative interviews with selected individuals will be conducted on the basis of the representative survey and the innovation workshop. The interviews include detailed narratives by the participants (narratives of the German energy transition) and are presented in the form of digital products.

VISE is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary consortium, including researchers from the University of Münster, the University of Wuppertal, Forschungszentrum Jülich, ewi Energy Research & Scenarios, the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the Wuppertal Institute. The virtual institute is divided into four subprojects with different research focuses. VISE offers an umbrella to integrate the different projects, enabling a holistic perspective on the complex and highly interdependent energy system.