Käyttäjäinnovaatiot uusiutuvan energian teknologioissaOtavan opisto

Maailmanvalloituksen perusteet –kurssi

9.3.2013

Jouni K. JuntunenVäitöskirjatutkija

Aalto yliopisto, Kauppakorkeakoulu

What is (user) innovation?

• Innovation according the Oslo Manual (OECD): Technological product and process (TPP) innovations comprise implemented technologically new products and processes and significant technological improvements in products and processes. A TPP innovation has been implemented if it has been introduced on the market (product innovation) or used within a production process (process innovation). TPP innovations involve a series of scientific, technological, organizational, financial and commercial activities.

• User innovation:Innovation by consumer users (individual end-users or user communities) or intermediate users (e.g. user firms) rather than by suppliers (producers or manufacturers).

User Innovation

Lead User

• von Hippel (1986)– Ahead of an important market

trend – Expect high benefits from

innovating

• Bilgram, Brem & Voigt (2008)– Being ahead of a market trend– High expected benefit– User investment– User dissatisfaction– Speed of adoption– Use experience– Total period of use– Number of different disciplines– Product related knowledge– Frequency of use of information

sources– Professional background or hobby

• Belz, Dodita& Moysidou (2012)– Social benefit

User Innovation Research

This talk

• What are our findings in user innovation research so far– What kind of innovations– What is the value of these innovations– What are the implications– How community helps to innovations to develop– How (some of these) innovations proliferate

User innovation in renewables

• User innovation has been documented to occur in – Biomass heating systems and solar collectors in Austria (Ornetzeder and

Rohracher, 2006) – Wind turbine cooperatives in Denmark (Jorgensen and Karnoe, 1995;

Karnøe, 1996) – Energy efficient buildings in Germany (Ornetzeder and Rohracher, 2006– Straw bale housing in the US (Seyfang, 2009)

• Finland as a “hard case” – No large producers—no “supplier ecology”– Wide availability of district heating systems and low energy and electricity

price backed by recent pro nuclear power decisions– Weak signs of renewable energy activism that could explain user

inventiveness

What, where and how significantly users invent renewable energy technologies in residential homes?

Data & Methods

• The main Finnish forums www.lampopumput.info, and www.maalampofoorumi.fi , www.pellettikeskustelu.fi

– E.g. Heat pump forum (www.lampopumput.info): 202 875 posts, 12 700 threads by over 3943 registered users in 5 years, by Nov 2012 viewed over 55 000 000 times

• Sampling: overview of all major categories by going through 40-100 thread headings and following 5-20 threads in detail per category

• Coverage: Key threads such as those in “own modifications and improvements” where user designs and alterations were centered, 1206 discussion threads in total

• Semi-structured Interviews: – 30-120 minutes

– 35 users

– 5 companies

• Analysis: posts and interviews coded for inventions, background, support given and received, learning, forum activities, development pathways,

• Evaluation: The found user inventions by three experts

User inventions in Finland

• 105 inventions in heat pumps

• 87 in wood pellet burning systems

• User system level designs

• User modifications

• User hacks, add-ons, relocating, repurposing

DIY Air-Water-Heat-Pump & Self made control logic

1-2 Installation location 3 Installation conditions4-12 Melting mechanism of bottom

cover13-16 Melting mechanism of collector

outdoor coil17-20 Add-on for the outdoor unit21-26 Channelling of the water out of

the unit27-30 Handling water outside of the unit31 Refrigerant fluid32-35 Hot water tank36 Water circulation37-51 Repurposing (air-to-air pump to

air-to-water)52 Repurposing of air-to-air to

geothermal pump53 Repurposing swimming pool HP

to Air-to-water HP54 Repurposing of internal unit 55 Utilization of cooled air from

outdoor unit56-60 Add-on for internal unit61 Mechanical structure62-65 Sensors in internal unit66-75 Add-on for monitoring and

controlling the overall system76-79 System level design

Air Heat Pump Diagram

1-8 Add-on for monitoring and controlling the overall unit performance

9-12 Add-on for monitoring ground heat exchanger

13-17 Coil location or modified use of coil and well 18 System level design 19-20 Water piping 21-22 Well 23 Add-on for control logic 24-25 External hot water tank as add-on 26 Heat distribution system

Ground Source Heat Pump Diagram

1-11 Burner12-22 Pellet Boiler System23-24 Burner Control25-27 Pellet Auger28-32 Cyclon33-37 Indoor silo38-46 Outdoor silo47-51 Measurement52-60 Automation61 Exhaust gas vacuum62 Hot water tank63-86 Other pellet burning systems87 Pellet Production

Wood Pellet Diagram

Summary of Innovation rating: 3 specialist reviewers

Inventiveness Ease of Implementation

Diffusion Potential Energy Saving Potential

Correlations

• Inventive modifications were thus evaluated as more difficult to implement but had higher diffusion potential  than incrementally inventive solutions.

• The inventions that resulted in higher energy savings were also more difficult to implement and had less diffusion potential.

What, where and how significantly citizens invent ? • In all three technologies users are able to invent in practically all parts and

subsystems of the technology: capacity invent considerable

• Few inventions new to the world, commercialized / widely proliferated

• The most user inventors built solutions that had one or several facets that would have rendered them useless for mass producers of the systems

• A reason for why these improvements have been neglected in mass products even when they give clear benefits to users

• User inventiveness capitalizes on locally appropriable possibilities, where downsides do not matter, can be ignored or compensated locally

• As elsewhere highly concentrated activity, less than 0.5 % involved in actively inventing and adopting modifications

Implications for Technology development

• Examine the inventions from the perspective of what needs to be done to proliferate them to new local markets

• Invite ‘lead-users’ into ideation workshops to chart the future tech. development trends

• Importance of modularity and adaptability for allowing tailoring

Supporting role of user run Internet forums in user innovation

Internet forums are used by corporates to activate lead users to co-create and innovate

Internet forums vs. innovative Internet forums“lämpöpumput.info is a rather conservative site and [it is] not nearly as welcoming and inventive as people in free-energy forum or pelletforum… [but] e.g. free-energy forum doesn’t give much help for development work for there are too few folks in there” (an user inventor in AHP and wood pellets)

Deepening engagement: Monitoring the performance

Deepening engagement

• “Thanks for clear information. In this area [ground circuit] it feels that when one grasps one thing, you just end up with further questions” (user, GHP forum)

• “Without this forum I would have faced huge problems with this unit. I doubt that I had proceeded building this further. It [forum] has been of great help.” (An inventive lead-user)

• “I have rather given more to the forum than taken from it, that’s the direction”…”I have tried to instruct guys who do this (DIY project), especially in dimensioning so that they get it working and one does not go a too far a stray.” (This user is semi professional and currently making designs to small local heat pump manufacturer-reseller)

Getting the means needed: Exchanging parts, tools and services

How Internet Forums support citizen inventiveness

• Forum size and diversity core to effective support; hinges on purchase and scaling support, troubleshooting, assembler and reseller presence etc.

• Comparative data & Parts and services exchange: inadvertent support for innovative users

• Learning environment within heat pump ecosystem for users, pro-ams and professionals alike; “legitimate peripheral participation” (lave & wenger, 1991)

• Boundary infrastructure (Bowker & Star, 1999) that allows multiple orientations to enter, legitimately co-exist vs. “centrist” OSS.

• Few citizen inventors “born” but most “grow” with others by learning deeper competences.

• “User runness”, active segmenting moderation to retain quality, anonymity and multiple communication modes … easily knocked out as experimental environment.

• Collective memory and encouragement.

Finnish User inventions in heat pumps – 4 examples

User-1: Ground source heat pump to a house without water central heating: Air heat pump inside unit as a convector. Idea of ”GAHP”

On sale in Finland. SME manufactures on order.

User-2: Turning Air Heat pump to Air water heat pump (at 10-20% cost)

Relative’s coolant applicance SME

Posted extensively at the forum, DIY AWHP becomes popular hack among users

Posted at the Forum and news spreads

Internet forum

User-3: AWHP function can be logged and remote control with computer or cell phone. An addition to initial AWHP user design

User-4: Dual source heat pump that uses ground source in the winter and air when air warmer than ground. ”DGAHP”

Idea revealed to a Chinese manufacturer as next to all primary HP manufacturing in China

Email discussion

Meeting

Producer X in China. Product not in range.

Producer Y in China in the same city.

Product added to selection (Alibaba.com)

Catalogue

ProducerUser Interaction arena

von Hippel's User innovation books

http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/books.htm

One more book recommendation about "social entrepreneurship"

Classic Success Story: Body Shop

Thank you !