Social acceptance is a major concern in energy policy and in the marketing of new innovative energy solutions. It is seen as a dynamic process rather than a static feature of a technology. The social acceptance of a technology is a process shaped by the interplay of technical, economic as well as non-economic factors and the way how these factors are perceived, assessed and evaluated by different stakeholders.
Technology acceptance is commonly targeted by good marketing. However, a sustainable, desirable and acceptable innovation needs to take social values and norms as well as a gender perspective and the concerns of users and stakeholders into account. The TRI-HP project goes beyond the simplifying assumption that a technology can be developed without taking the social context into consideration. In TRI-HP, the interests and needs of end-users, installers and maintenance staff as well as potential market, safety and regulatory barriers towards tri-generation systems will be investigated from an early stage of technology development. This will allow to understand and determine decision-makers’ and key-stakeholders’ expectations, benefits and requirements and to anticipate the perception of potential risks and barriers related to TRI-HP systems and their deployment.
Within the project, four groups of market actors will be considered who have an immediate influence on the decision making process, installation and maintenance: