Recent years have brought a shift in the discourse on the role of ordinary households in energy systems throughout Europe. A central aspect is a focus on prosumers; customers not only buying electricity, but producing and selling locally produced electricity back to the grid. This paper takes a closer look at the status of prosumers as they are enrolled into a solar PV pilot. The novelty of the paper is that it studies the process of enrolment from a user perspective. Through an analysis of around 1,700 applications by householders who want to become prosumers, we shed light on how these prospective users understand the role of the PV pilot as a sociotechnical project, as well as how they interpret their own future role with respect to this project. Thus, we explore both how technologies of prosumption are made sense of, and how prospective users try to attract the interest of the utility in order to be selected as pilot users in the project. We show how the applicants argue their case using the material qualities of the home, stress ownership or an interest in associated technologies such as electric vehicles, smart home technologies etc. Further, many frame participation in the PV pilot as being part of a broader life style project, where personal attributes such as education, occupation and environmental engagement are important. Our analysis indicates a high over representation of prospective participants with what we can call an engineer oriented habitus, where enthusiasm and interest in new technology serves as the main motivation for participation. This highlights design challenges for future energy pilots, as well as more general challenges that needs to be handled if the goal is to engage broader segments of the population in this kind of energy transition activities.
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