Warm Home Discount Industry Initiative Scheme: Effects of solar panels and battery installation in British low-income and vulnerable households

Last registered on October 01, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Warm Home Discount Industry Initiative Scheme: Effects of solar panels and battery installation in British low-income and vulnerable households
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014148
Initial registration date
September 10, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
September 26, 2024, 12:24 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
October 01, 2024, 12:57 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Daniel Lopez Garcia
Affiliation
Centre for Net Zero
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Andrew Schein
PI Affiliation
Centre for Net Zero
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Robert Metcalfe
PI Affiliation
Columbia University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-08-12
End date
2027-12-31
Keywords
Environment & Energy, Welfare
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
See analysis plan.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Lopez Garcia, Daniel, Robert Metcalfe and Andrew Schein. 2024. "Warm Home Discount Industry Initiative Scheme: Effects of solar panels and battery installation in British low-income and vulnerable households." AEA RCT Registry. October 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14148-1.1
Sponsors & Partners

Partner

Name
Octopus Energy Limited
Type
private_company
URL
https://octopus.energy/
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
See analysis plan
Intervention Start Date
2024-08-12
Intervention End Date
2026-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Electricity consumption in kWh per half-hour
Gas consumption in kWh per week
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
What is the magnitude of overall energy consumption reduction? Relevant literature has tried to ascertain the impact of solar and battery deployment in residential households, but these estimates are only ever as reliable as the baselines themselves or the customers they use to compare the energy consumption of the treatment group with. By creating a randomised controlled trial (RCT), we can deliver higher-confidence and more rigorous conclusions than previous approaches. In addition to this, there are not many examples of such an RCT, especially in the UK and in the context of low income and vulnerable customers.
How does the impact of solar panels and battery adoption on energy consumption change over time? Passive controls on batteries to maximise solar energy consumption might not be tailored to consumer needs. Adoption of new habits and technologies and learning effects may cause higher reduction potential over time. Which of these effects dominates is of great policy relevance.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Influence of battery and solar panel installation in the adoption of smart time of use tariffs
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Customers will be offered the installation of smart meters and the adoption of time of use tariffs (ToUT), with which they could further have reductions in their energy bills.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
See analysis plan
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Stratified randomization (see above) using R.
Randomization Unit
Customer. Observations are clustered at the customer level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
38,821 customers
Sample size: planned number of observations
It depends of customers that eventually install smart meters (a figure that is not known in advance). Assuming this percentage is 66%, then our observations will be: 38k * 66% * # of days in the study There are approximately 3 years in the full study period.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
The treatment group who received the invitation: approximately 20,000 out of 38,821 customers (~52% of the
sample)
The control group that did not receive the invitation email: approximately 19,000 of 38,821 customers (~48% of
the sample)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
0.24 kWh per half-hour for RED1 (equivalent to a 2.06% of daily consumption) 0.098 kWh per half-hour for RED2 (<1% of baseline daily consumption)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information