Number of participants
Chapter 4: Analysis and Findings Barriers to Adoption
4.2 Thematic Analysis: Barrier Themes Identified
4.2.1 Knowledge and Awareness
4.2.1.3 Skepticism
One participant mentioned that decorative solar panels are only “a thing of the future” (R52CE). While these reactions may be a clear sign of a simple lack of information, the misinformation does greater harm as this shortcoming may continue to perpetuate and dissuade others from adopting BIPV. Furthermore, as will be explained in details under the ―Social‖ theme, some of interviewees admitted that their notions about BIPV are the result of perspectives and information from others. Also, the notion that bright sunlight always equates high amount of energy was refuted. This was stated as,
“…everyone thinks that UAE has a good percentage of their weather where it's bright sunny light and you can generate watts and watts of electricity, but I don't think that's the thing. If you can maintain it properly, even with 30% sunlight you can generate electricity.” - R68D.
this barrier. Firstly, it was noted that some people just see the whole idea of sustainability and solar as a “gimmick and are uninterested” (R02AE), while another participant noted there were others who feel it is going to be “a hassle and problematic”
(R05AE). For some, this skepticism is due to a lack of trust and a fear that installed solar panels will become dangerously hot (R07AU), or that there will be some installation complications (R08ARE). Other skeptical reservations are attributed to an uncertainty that the solar panels will be installed properly (R12ARE; R16ARE), and the concern that fire firefighters may lack sufficient knowledge to deal with fires from the PV cell‘s encapsulant (R19PVE).
On a broader level, an architect and fire safety expert admitted that although he was an avid advocate for BIPV in the UAE, the fire at The Address – a multistory luxury hotel in Dubai on the 2018 New Year‘s Eve – has had a negative impact on him.
Following the rather sad end of year disaster, the UAE Civil Defense (CD) issued a statement which eventually cast some aspersion on the fire safety rating of solid aluminum as a building component. As at the time of conducting this interview, he said he would be cautious and skeptical of CD approval for BIPV; adding that he would not be swayed to try it at the moment (R05AE). He stated that,
“I would be very nervous, in the current context even I would be very nervous about suggesting BIPV now. Because whereas I was very excited about it and see a great opportunity, now that Civil Defense is suggesting or stating that solid metal is a fire risk, it‟s almost a no.” - R05AE
Reviewing client appeal and feedback, one architect with research background noted that in design, buildings have limited roof space, thus some clients will not think about BIPV because they feel “there is no space for this trash‖ (R11ARE). One unexpected comment was raised by a commercial PV specialist who asserted that there
were clients who simply do not accept BIPV, because it is based on energy generation without visible wiring like the conventional technology they have. He explained that,
“…sometimes we install the solar panel for the people and we put it on their roof but they don‟t believe that the system is generating electricity because you cannot see it…Although we are putting meters and we are putting lots of online systems that show the system is generating electricity but still the people don‟t believe that because it‟s invisible.” - R24PVU
One comment from the non-technical perspective noted that when people have made up their minds about an issue, it can be particularly difficult to change their opinion (R42CU). This somewhat a defining general trait of some people confirms that skepticism is not only a BIPV barrier, but in the broader sense, might affect any new idea or innovation.
b) Cost
As a precursor to the narrative on cost as economic barrier, this section highlights the fact that some participants simply believe that BIPV is expensive (R05AE; R07AU; R24PVU). One comment which reflected the layers of concern and uncertainty was made by an Architect, who said,
“Because its – I don‟t know! I don‟t know what might happen, you know, glazing costs a lot…especially if I‟m talking about a house that is within our size – the size of our houses. It‟s not like you will have five windows. It‟s not. We have way more!”
(R07AU).
Other comments which similarly reflected this include,
“I think that the main reason is the perception that it is going to be a hassle, problematic and it could be more expensive and this is just going to complicate things.” - R05AE
“Oh no, solar panels are very expensive. Let me stop talking about it, because it‟s very expensive I cannot pay.” - R24PVU
Although they made no connection to any example or cost report, one assumption is that the best new technology will cost more (R07AU). But simple technologies like LEDs over incandescent bulbs for example, prove that this rhetoric is untrue as the cheaper former was a selling point for one participant (R60CE).
Additional comments from non-technical participants also agree with the skepticism, and some, an uncertainty that the technology is expensive (R57CE; R58CE) and it may not actually self-pay for the investment or yield sufficient savings (R58CE;
R63CE). One participant said,
“I‟m not sure but maybe it‟s expensive?” - R57CE
Two other participants reinforced the skepticism regarding BIPV by saying,
“Ok. I would wonder if it‟s going to save me money or if it‟s a new technology and so…I don‟t know…it sounds expensive.” - R58CE
“Talking to people, there is a lot of skepticism to see what the returns for the initial investment are. The problem is to…at present, solar doesn‟t pay by itself.” - R63CE c) Power Output
BIPV has often been put forward in literature as an innovation with the potential to advance net-zero building (Wittkopf et al., 2012). In the UAE, the Estidama code, which supports the Pearl Building Rating System, provides extra points for the use of renewable technology like BIPV to offset some of the building energy need. However, participants‘ comments showed that both technical and non-technical stakeholders seem to doubt the BIPV power capacity for certain reasons. The reason was based on the fear of characteristic high energy consumption due to high summer AC use (R03AE) and increased number of household appliances (R24PVU).
Commercial building owners tend to be also wary because they have an obligation to their tenants, thus the fear and uncertainty weighs rather heavy. (R15ARE)
Non-technical participants‘ comments also reflect this bias regarding the BIPV power capacity. Some feel it won‘t be effective or produce well (R37CU; R42CU;
R60CE. One observed,
“And people think that it is not effective…if it is a new thing, they are already against it.” - R37CU
However, two others shared their own reasons for being skeptical. They said,
“Because I have to wait, what if there is a cloudy day, and maybe hesitant “should I take the risk and use it?”, and then I‟m going to end up with some trouble of running the electricity in my house.” - R43CU
“One thing we think that “what if the sun doesn‟t shine?”, “what if there is one day when it‟s just rusty…does that mean our power is going to be gone?”. So we are not quite sure how this solar power can be sustained without the sun…is my light is going to be flickering, or TV is not going to be working?” - R60CE
Other concerns were raised about the uncertainty of ability of the technology to sustain electrical power on cloudy days when there is no sunshine (R43CU; R60CE).
Although speaking about solar technology in general, one participant mentioned that his past experience with solar products showed that they are unreliable, therefore he would rather wait for some time, for others to try BIPV before adopting it himself (R43CU).
As with the technical reservation about meeting the current high energy demands, this concern was also raised as a lack of confidence that BIPV can meet present household energy demands (R60CE).
From the maintenance point of view, one comment was made which shows how subtle insecurities may lead to a skeptical perspective about BIPV. A participant from the Client-Expat group contemplatively said that in her experience, basic maintenance of
conventional household components had not been well done by workers. She added that in her opinion, most people in the UAE are from different countries with such different trainings and backgrounds. So, she was skeptical about their ability to service something as new as solar PV technology (R58CE). To put this in here own words,
“I don‟t always know how much the people that are doing the maintenance know about that specific thing, and I think that solar panels is(are) a bit newer so, maybe I would be having skepticism about the training that people actually had for it.” - R58CE