How citizens can change the world of solar energy
GRECO is a pioneering European research project that is doing science differently. Coordinated by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid alongside ten international research centres, participants are showing that solar energy science can be carried out in an open, responsible way. And unlike the vast majority of research projects around the world, this approach involves citizens. “Citizen science is a movement that’s really been gathering momentum in the last few years,” highlights Luisa Fernanda Barbosa Gómez. She is the coordinator of public engagement projects at the Studies Centre on Science, Communication and Society – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. “It’s all about taking science out of laboratories and research centres and bringing it to the people. We want to increase the connections between scientists, technology and citizens, so Citizen Science makes perfect sense.” Luisa is spearheading Citizen Science within GRECO. Originally a molecular biologist, she left the lab as she wanted to have a greater impact on Science in general. Initially drawn to participatory science, she quickly discovered Citizen Science – currently being heavily promoted by the European Union – and joined GRECO in June 2018. As she points out, some scientific fields, such as ecology and conservation biology, have a long history of citizen science, with, for example, bird monitoring schemes taking place in the early 20th century. However, many fields, including the energy sector, are only just beginning to recognise the valuable contributions that citizens can make when it comes to data collection, analysis and scientific research. “Engineers in general engage a lot less with citizens than biologists and when you look at energy, it’s very difficult to find any project that is really involving citizens in its research,” she says. “I find this strange as engineers actually work with products that are much closer to the market and GRECO is actually one of the rare Citizen Science projects in the energy sector.” Given that GRECO is entering uncharted territory, Luisa is hopeful that as a Citizen Science project, it will have a huge impact here. Indeed, solar energy is the only democratic energy in the market, which citizens can choose to use or not. What‘s more, unlike other energy technologies, solar energy panels actually belong to people’s homes. From this, it’s clear that solar energy research should be developed with citizens and for citizens. Citizen engagement From the word go, GRECO has wanted to find out how researchers can collaborate with different sectors of society to help introduce photovoltaics on a large scale. As a result, the project has set out to establish a solar energy community, for people that are interested in sustainability and renewability. A series of mutual learning dialogues have taken place in Brazil, Bulgaria, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the UK. Such activities aim to make research and innovation socially responsible whilst involving the public. “This community building is so important for engagement,” highlights Luisa. “If people feel that they are a part of the community and their voices are heard then they are more likely to take action.” Participants to these dialogues came from a range of backgrounds including consumer associations, PV installers, neighbourhood associations, universities, electric companies and environmentalists. Overall results from the meetings indicate that research and development can learn a lot from different sectors of society. Importantly, the activities also reveal a lack of information and even misconceptions surround PV technology. “These are all about people getting in touch with each other, empowering themselves and having a space to talk,” says Barbosa. “At the same time, we are also telling this community of people that shares our interests, ‘please tell us what you have to say out loud and we will listen’.”
Keywords
Citizen Science, Photovoltaics