A heuristic approach to the decision-making process of energy prosumers in a circular economy

Abstract

Renewable distributed energy and self-consumption are promising and sustainable solutions in the energy-transition scenario for moving toward a circular economy. In this future scheme, prosumers are expected to play a leading role in the forthcoming sustainable energy market, facing new technical, economic, and financial challenges as energy producers at a small scale. In fact, the adoption of photovoltaic (PV) self-consumption systems requires mobilizing capital for investment and their interaction with the market. In this scenario, the aim of this paper was to explore insights into the decision-making process of prosumers to enhance the understanding of self-consumption deployment and to support effective policymaking. This study contributes to the state of the art by defining and classifying determinants of the energy prosumers’ decision-making process and their relevance using a heuristic approach. Potential measuring tools and methods are analyzed through a specific case study of Spanish prosumers.