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Forum Index : Solar : Oz Research on household PV adoption
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| Baggins Newbie  Joined: 31/10/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Hi there folks, I'm doing research for my PhD looking at why Australians have taken to solar PV in such a big way. I'm hoping you could help by doing an on-line questionnaire. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OZelectric This is CRC funded research for public benefit (based at the University of Melbourne). I am looking for responses from people who have solar PV already or are interested in getting PV. The research looks at the influence of households on the electricity sector and reasons behind PV adoption. The survey contains (tick-box) questions about energy-related behaviours and opinions on things like electricity companies, batteries, off-grid etc. It will take about 15 mins. If you complete the survey you can opt in to a draw to win one of four $100 hardware or supermarket vouchers (details at the end). Here is the link to the survey again: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OZelectric Your input would be very helpful. Thanks, Che |
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Madness Guru  Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
I started your survey but gave up as you keep asking exactly the same questions over and over. Another thing is you are focusing on the electricity companies, they don't make policy, it is the government that needs to be influenced. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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| Baggins Newbie Joined: 31/10/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Heya Madness, Yeah good pick up. A number of the opinion questions are similar. Opinion surveys for research often do have the same issue asked a number of ways. This is a deliberate practice to do with making the analysis stand up - cos people might not always answer consistently if they've miss-read or just answered without thinking. In this case the similar questions are deliberate. Good pck up tho, I might pop in a quick explainer. I think I get your comment on policy and companies. Companies do seem to be responding the current policy stance (or lack of). I'm interested in people's perceptions of energy companies and government (there are question on both) because I'm looking to see whether attitudes to one or both have an underlying role to play in peoples interaction with the grid (eg. through PV adoption). So far, it seems like some people have more of an issue with companies, others with government, some both equally. Thanks for having a go! Cheers mate. |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Well spending 15 minutes answer the same questions over and over will get the result you got from me, but then I am sure I am different to a vast number of the population. My perception is the government needs to sort out there crap and the energy companies don't know which way to turn because of the idiots in canberra who can't even work out if they are dual citizens or not. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Hi Che Yeah I'm with Madness, after about page 7 I felt like I was answering the same question again and again, so I didnt finish the survey. Sorry, but think of it as constructive criticism. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Baggins Newbie Joined: 31/10/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Hi Glenn, I hear ya. Fair enough. I'll look at changing things a little. Thanks for giving it a go. Cheers, Che |
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Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
There are surveys and then there are surveys which are easy to answer and one feels pleased for being asked. While I have not looked at 'Baggins' survey I see, from the replies above, that it falls in the first category. No, I refuse to partake in any survey that insults my intelligence by asking the same question multiple times. I think those survey compilers that came up with that idea ought to have their own intelligence examined. Lastly, a hint; do make that link a hyperlink (click 4th icon from left in the header of the reply page) and you just may get those that hate to cut & paste addresses to respond. Klaus |
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| Baggins Newbie Joined: 31/10/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Haha, Hi Klaus. Sorry if you've been burnt by surveys before. There certainly are some pretty poor ones out there. Feel free to put my one in that category of you like but by intention is not to insult your intelligence. You will find the questions pretty simple (and yes, some but not all are similar). Please have a look, i'm trying to find evidence that households are showing leadership on solar (in part) as a response to the lack of leadership from government and industry. I would have loved to offer you a survey with no double-up items. Unfortunately, for deeper statistical analysis - particularly on opinions, such a survey would be good for getting a gist on something but wouldn't hold water. I'd be laughed out of town by my assessors. (Its in-depth research, not an opinion poll). But I'm happy to blame them ;) Thanks for picking up on the hyperlink not working too. Glenn, I tried to add the link in the hyperlink bar but the address that results looked like spaghetti. I've tried again here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OZelectric Please let me know if I can fix/edit the link in the first post on this thread. I didn't realise people have had to copy/paste. Very much appreciate your thoughts Klaus and all. Che Here's a cupla questions you might find worth answering: Do you think households (adopting PV and batteries) can have an important influence on the way the electricity grid evolves? If so, what is it? what would you like to see households do to shape the grid? |
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| isochronic Guru Joined: 21/01/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 689 |
I did casual work as an interviewer for a while, and will not do surveys at all. They might theoretically be a research method but practically are usually ridiculous. My favorites : a so-called "longitudinal" survey calling unemployed every few months. Govt paid of course, several thousand surveys per year, cost presumably in the multiple millions. A main question asked was "Why did you stop working?", with a range of preset possible answers. Pity is, many women stop employment while they give birth and care for a baby at least for a few months...you guessed it, that was not a possible reason. Others had glaring errors like only 4 weekdays (eg mondays) in a generic month, or blatantly Dorothy Dix crap designed to justify or market products. Not to mention, strange types apparently conducting psych lab classes by deceit, or using "social research" to generate contact lists, to be on-sold as convenient. I am sure the PV survey is legit, but given the reputation of surveys in the public arena I am wondering if any survey is really reliable. |
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| Alastair Senior Member  Joined: 03/04/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 161 |
Che, If this survey is part of your PhD project: Have you discussed the structure and analysis method with your supervisor? Has the survey had formal approval from a reference group? Any survey for formal research should have full identification of the person responsible and contact details. The Uni of Melb has a protocol and requirements for survey research. Like others, I find this questionnaire poorly designed. Cheers, Alastair |
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| Baggins Newbie Joined: 31/10/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Hi Alastair, folks, yes its been cleared by ethics, reviewed and thoroughly picked to pieces. Though not enough apparently  All the requirements you talk about are in the survey - including "...full identification of the person responsible and contact details".Perhaps you'd like to tell me how it is poorly designed or make some constructive suggestions? Happy to take your comments on board. Thanks Alastair. Che |
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| Alastair Senior Member Joined: 03/04/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 161 |
Che, I have now completed your survey and see that the approvals, contacts etc are at the end. I believe these should be at the beginning so that before I start I can see who is doing it, that it is approved and who I can address questions to. I cannot see this before I have finished. I think some of the reaction you have got is due to not having the validity of your survey displayed at the start. I understand the need for repetition but believe that it is overdone here. Again the small sample response on this forum suggest this. This is an informed group. I do not know the full extent of the research project so am loath to comment in detail. A few suggestions are: A group of questions to indicate the level of knowledge about solar power that the respondent has or believes they have. Does the respondent have a technical background? If so to what level? How are they informed re solar? This would distinguish between knowledge groups and I expect you would see a clear separation of attitudes. For those who have purchased solar ask questions relating to their buying decisions. Did they research it themselves, seek multiple quotes, question information given, buy the cheapest or what they perceived the best? What were the key factors that formed their decision? You may intend to ask these questions subsequently but then there is no way to relate the answers to the original data set. Good luck with your research. Cheers, Alastair |
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| Baggins Newbie Joined: 31/10/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Hi Alastair, Thank you! I really appreciate your comments and the time you took to make them. Unless you are really interested in the details I feel like it might be a waste of your time for me to go through your points individually. That said however, there's some great points which I will take on. Some of them reflect a slightly research focus, which is by no means not relevant but not my focus - I hope you'll appreciate that the research questions ultimately shape the survey design and nature of questions. A couple of other points are also spot on. I've already rolled out the survey to a random cross-section of adopters and non-adopters and by posting it on this and other solar forums I'm hoping to get input from the 'leading-edge' you might say. My experiences so far have been that people switch off when reading the guff about the research ethics at the beginning. However, I think I've under-estimated the level of engagement/sophistication of people here and so I'll now adjust it to put more detail upfront. More broadly, it is certainly not perfect - I'll give you that . But while it may well have irked some folks here, I've got more respect for folks than to post a survey that's half-baked. It is after all, voluntary. It has also been heavily informed by other peer-reviewed studies on similar issues - as well as de-boned, picked apart and critiqued prior. It could still be better no doubt.Much appreciated Alastair, and all! Che |
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| Alastair Senior Member Joined: 03/04/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 161 |
Che, Had there been a simple statement on the first page that showed me that the survey was approved by the relevant ethics committee and had contact details, I would have had a different attitude. I know well what is involved in having things approved and so I would have accepted its validity. My b/g is experimental and to be frank I had quite a poor opinion of survey based research until I supervised students who needed to use it as part of their projects. My learning curve was steep and I was pleasantly surprised that indeed done well, survey work can have rigor. Again good luck and post a link when you have some results. Cheers, Alastair |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Most people using this forum are DIY people setting up their own gear and some of us are even building our own Inverters etc. Also many are off grid as well so power company questions are simply not relevant to them. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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| Baggins Newbie Joined: 31/10/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Hi Madness, interesting. Good to know. From your own experience and what you gather from other forum members, why are people going off the grid? With the people I've spoken to, who are interested in going off-grid (or have already jumped) some of the motivation seems to be pretty strong disaffection with El companies and the feds. High bills is one aspect of this, but distrust is another. There's a theme that the way the grid is managed and opperated, no longer seems to fit what people expect or want. Do these themes come up? Cheers, Che |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
I can't speak for others on here but for me part of it is personal satisfaction, part so I can be independant and self sufficient, part no power bills and cost of installing power lines to the rural property being very expensive. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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oztules Guru Joined: 26/07/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1686 |
"I would have loved to offer you a survey with no double-up items. Unfortunately, for deeper statistical analysis - particularly on opinions, such a survey would be good for getting a gist on something but wouldn't hold water. I'd be laughed out of town by my assessors. (Its in-depth research, not an opinion poll). But I'm happy to blame them ;)" I'm not smart enough to answer most of the questions sensibly, as I have not thought about most of the inflections and intonations that were guiding the answers. And then given a bunch of boxes to tick, about things I have no opinion on anyway, smacks of social engineering, by asking useless questions about things not relevant to the topic and to which I have no material interest in...... how useful would those answers really be?.... GIGO. I guess you can at least then statistically assuage the results to really achieve nothing of importance..... anything useful will be lost in the static of drivel in there. I did not complete the survey, and came away with the feeling my dollars spent for tertiary education, are doing the country no material good. This appears to me to be just a statistics party, and the assessors are of questionable quality if they approved this as a more than an adumbrate attempt to gleam anything of value... statistics for statistics sake. So the real answer to your question. 1. Seemed like an interesting idea, so why not. You can fill in all the rest of the social engineering questions, I can't You should know that 99% of people have no idea about solar panels and the photoelectric effect in either classical physics or quantum physics. Einstein wrote of it in 1905, and got the nobel prize for it in 1922... so most other boffins did not get it either... most people will not have a clue what it really is, how it works, or anything substantive about solar panels and their workings. 99% of folks have no idea how the grid works either, and so cannot to make an informed decision about that as well, nor power transmission, correlated networks.... they only use the press to get a warped view of it. They are in no position to answer with any alacrity. So 99% of your research results will revolve around blissful ( maybe well intentioned) ignorance, as most decisions regarding most of your questions have no basis in fact. People do understand economics.. so that part will be relevant.... the rest subjective vacuous nonsense. You will be able to frame the results as majoritarianism, but that is a social engineering paradigm. Nothing to do with solar. "This study explores households’ relationship to the electricity sector and how this might change. It aims to understand how changes in technologies like solar and increases in electricity prices might affect people’s attitudes and behaviour and what impact these could have." So what have we learnt? 1. A household's relationship to the utility is based on bills... may bitch about connection times etc but it all comes down to money... it won't change materially unless outages get extreme for a developed country. 2. Technology changes will be of no relevance, unless there is a corresponding monetary payoff... eg off grid storage etc. 3. Attitudes based on ignorance can change dramatically, depending on the press coverage on how they think we should think.... so not of relevance to what people think now. 4. Folks that do know a bit about what is going on will in all probability not answer your current quizz, so your destined to get the fruitloops and a few diehards that answer questionnaires all the time..... I would not base any archetectural designs on those unless your client asks for it. Sorry, but that it is my response. ........oztules Village idiot...or... just another hack out of his depth |
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| Baggins Newbie Joined: 31/10/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 9 |
Wow!! ...oztules, a fair bit of passion there. That's a fair crack you've had. I hear there's lots you don't like but your post reads like your questions are rhetorical, so its hard to respond. let me know if there's something specific you're interested in or like me to address (just note I don't play vitriolic ping-pong). But it sounds like you've got your head around it all anyway. It's a pity I won't be getting your responses. BTW - you have done some great work helping others build their own RenNRG tech, keep it up! Che |
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| HankR Senior Member Joined: 02/01/2015 Location: United StatesPosts: 209 |
About Che: Che Biggs The Melbourne School of Design cast of characters: School of Design peeps |
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