BARRIERS AND POSSIBILITIES WITH DOMESTIC SOLAR HEATING - ADVANTAGES OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

摘要

Research within solar energy has traditionally focused on increasing the system efficiency by developing and improving the technical components. Thermal solar collectors for hot water production have been markedly developed since the 1970s and the solar heating technology is today well-developed and has reached cost-effectiveness in many applications. Still, the implementation rate and use of solar heating remains modest. Laboratory experiments and system simulations in advanced computer programs are frequently used methods within the present solar heating research. However, in a wider perspective, the technology should be used by people. Market actors, such as architects, installers, property developers and users, are highly influential on the implementation rate, but they are often overlooked in research and development. To achieve a state of common use of solar technology more than the purely technical aspects have to be considered. In this paper, a socio-technical framework has been applied to solar heating to grasp the complexity of the low implementation rate and to connect technology with market actors and the social context in which the technical systems appear. The system boundaries are widened and traditional engineering methods are combined with methods usually not used within engineering research. The focus is still on technical systems, but by utilizing time-use data the user is introduced in studies of technical performance, while technology is seen in its social context by carrying out interviews. Solar heating is here regarded a socio-technical system, comprising both social and technical components. Social components may be market actors, legislation, politics or cultural aspects. The paper is based on a doctoral thesis within Engineering Sciences, presented at Uppsala University, Sweden, in 2009 (see Lundh, 2009). The research focused on storage issues and system solutions and how social aspects may be brought into technical studies to improve the understanding of solar heating. Some of the obstacles that can appear in the planning, installation and utilization phases were identified using Sweden as a case study. This paper presents one approach to understand the interaction between technology and people by investigating some aspects of solar heating technology in its social context. Obstacles preventing the dissemination of solar heating technology may then be identified and thereby contribute to finding solutions to the slow implementation rate. 1.1. Aim The aim of the overall research project was to widen the system boundaries and methodology in solar heating research from pure engineering studies of materials and components to studies of solar heating technology and technical systems in a social context. The hypothesis was that both possibilities and barriers appear in the interaction between technology and people, and not only in technology itself. This paper aims at presenting a socio-technical approach and give examples on how new methods may be used in engineering research to enrich studies of technology. It further aims at discussing advantages and problems associated with an interdisciplinary approach.