Spinning meters

A couple of months ago I was researching the solar power industry in Southern California. I visited manufacturers, installers, advisors and not least owners of photovoltaics. My goal? To understand what makes people investing some $30,000 with a pay back time of more than 10 years. The reasons varied of course. Conciousness about climate change, tech-interest, independece of foreign energy sources etc. But after some time with each respondent I more often than not ran into one very specific reason:

People love to see their meters spinning backwards.

As the daytime energy surplus is sent back on the grid the energy meters spin backwards and thus showing the daily gain from people's private power unit very explicitly. That was what really turned out to be the key to why people invest. They want to make a gain, no matter how much they have invested to achieve it.

I have previously argued that same mechanisms are driving the sales of Toyota Prius. As the payback time of a Prius comared to a similar non-hybrid vehicle is about 3-4 years, pure economic reasons simply don't fit. It's obviously something else. It's the wonderful feeling of spending less, eventhough you have spent a lot more on the car.

At least one person confirms this. Dr Peter H. Gleick, a distinguished climate change researcher and President of the Pacific Institute in Oakland writes about his new Prius:

This car has changed my driving habits. The Prius comes with a remarkable computer screen capable of displaying sufficient information to warm any data freak’s heart. For example, it displays a graph of average fuel efficiency every five minutes. It shows how much energy the regenerative breaking system puts back into its special battery. It displays instantaneous miles per gallon, along with a schematic showing which part of the gas-electric-hybrid system is in use at any moment......My goal, which used to be to get from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time, is now to get from point A to point B with the highest level of fuel efficiency. I’ve gone from a lead-foot to a feather-foot. I wave at other Prius owners. I can drive from my home to the State Capitol in Sacramento at 65 miles per hour and get 50 miles per gallon. But I also know I can drive the same route at 60 miles per hour and get 52 miles per gallon and arrive only seven minutes later.

Both the solar power and the Prius example clearly show how visual  aids may stimulate a changed behavior. And that the achievements in relation to prior achievements are much more important than the achievements in relation to the effect of climate change.