Solar V2G charging at work: Exploring corporate user adoption potentials for accelerating sustainability transitions across sectors
Type
conference contribution
Date Issued
2025-06-24
Author(s)
Abstract
The exponential diffusion of technological innovations such as renewable energies (RES) or electric vehicles (EVs) is a crucial mechanism for accelerating sustainability transitions, positioning the end-user as an important stakeholder. On the other hand, the production and roll-out of such innovations places companies as equally relevant actors in expediting the ‘delivery’ of societal services such as clean energy and electromobility (Schaltegger et al., 2023). Yet despite being recognised as a crucial player in shaping how innovations diffuse, transitions research has tended to frame the corporate actor as an opponent – rather than proponent – of radical system reconfigurations (van Mossel et al., 2018). However, a growing number of studies shows that incumbent firms also take a proactive stance to support and adopt niche innovations (Altunay et al., 2021; Scherrer and Rogge, 2025), as well as to reorient their strategies towards sustainable system transformations (Ertelt and Kask, 2024; Karltorp et al., 2024).
Nevertheless, transition studies of organisations have usually focused on firms operating on the ‘supply-side’ of sectoral value chains while leaving unattended their ‘demand-side’ role as innovation users (Meelen and Schwanen, 2023). Yet corporate energy consumers (i.e. companies) in Europe today account for almost 70% of final energy use, while residential consumers (i.e. households) account for about 27%. Similarly, 40% of new car sales in Europe go to individual private users, while 60% are bought by corporate users (i.e. company cars) – 90% of which are petrol and diesel vehicles accounting for 74% of new vehicle emissions. Despite being a crucial player for expediting the mass adoption of innovations, the corporate actor remains grossly overlooked in transitions research. Its multifaceted role in accelerating sustainability transitions is therefore poorly understood.
To address this shortcoming, this paper examines the role of companies as ‘innovation users’ at the intersection between the electricity and (road) transport sectors. Given that both sectors are undergoing profound changes to decarbonise (electricity) and electrify (transport) their societal functions, focusing on this inter-sectoral locus allows to investigate how the corporate actor can accelerate sustainability transitions by adopting innovations that couple different sectors. Empirically, the study focuses on Switzerland’s transition to a renewables-based electromobility system, where the diffusion of RES and EVs is giving way to the emergence of ‘vehicle-to-grid’ (V2G) charging applications.
Whitin this context, I mobilise insights from the strategic management and sustainable marketing literatures to uncover and assess the direction and strength of influence of different (non-)price factors in fostering/undermining the willingness of corporate energy consumers to partake in ‘solar V2G charging at work’. To this effect, I conduct a semi-quantitative analysis of 31 company interviews to systematically examine a range of novel ‘adoption chain’ and ‘co-innovation’ risks undermining the adoption potentials of corporate users for expediting the diffusion of multi-purpose innovations across different market segments. In doing so, this study addresses recent calls for examining how the corporate actor can accelerate sustainability transitions across different sectors simultaneously (Andersen and Geels, 2023).
References
Altunay, M., Bergek, A., Palm, A., 2021. Solar business model adoption by energy incumbents: the importance of strategic fit. Environ Innov Soc Transit 40, 501–520. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2021.10.013
Andersen, A.D., Geels, F.W., 2023. Multi-system dynamics and the speed of net-zero transitions: Identifying causal processes related to technologies, actors, and institutions. Energy Res Soc Sci 102, 103178. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103178
Ertelt, S.-M., Kask, J., 2024. Home field advantage: examining incumbency reorientation dynamics in low-carbon transitions. Environ Innov Soc Transit 50, 100802. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2023.100802
Karltorp, K., Lu, S.S., Perez Vico, E., 2024. Three incumbents restructuring the Swedish energy and steel regimes: the case of Hybrit. Ind Innov 31, 1058–1092. https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2024.2376317
Meelen, T., Schwanen, T., 2023. Organizations as users in sustainability transitions: Embedding Vehicle-to-Grid technology in the United Kingdom. Energy Res Soc Sci 106, 103303. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103303
Schaltegger, S., Loorbach, D., Hörisch, J., 2023. Managing entrepreneurial and corporate contributions to sustainability transitions. Bus Strategy Environ 32, 891–902. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3080
Scherrer, A., Rogge, K.S., 2025. When do incumbents adopt radical net-zero technologies? Analysing differences in strategy trajectories of European truck manufacturers towards alternative vehicle technologies. Technol Forecast Soc Change 211, 123872. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123872
van Mossel, A., van Rijnsoever, F.J., Hekkert, M.P., 2018. Navigators through the storm: A review of organization theories and the behavior of incumbent firms during transitions. Environ Innov Soc Transit 26, 44–63. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2017.07.001
Nevertheless, transition studies of organisations have usually focused on firms operating on the ‘supply-side’ of sectoral value chains while leaving unattended their ‘demand-side’ role as innovation users (Meelen and Schwanen, 2023). Yet corporate energy consumers (i.e. companies) in Europe today account for almost 70% of final energy use, while residential consumers (i.e. households) account for about 27%. Similarly, 40% of new car sales in Europe go to individual private users, while 60% are bought by corporate users (i.e. company cars) – 90% of which are petrol and diesel vehicles accounting for 74% of new vehicle emissions. Despite being a crucial player for expediting the mass adoption of innovations, the corporate actor remains grossly overlooked in transitions research. Its multifaceted role in accelerating sustainability transitions is therefore poorly understood.
To address this shortcoming, this paper examines the role of companies as ‘innovation users’ at the intersection between the electricity and (road) transport sectors. Given that both sectors are undergoing profound changes to decarbonise (electricity) and electrify (transport) their societal functions, focusing on this inter-sectoral locus allows to investigate how the corporate actor can accelerate sustainability transitions by adopting innovations that couple different sectors. Empirically, the study focuses on Switzerland’s transition to a renewables-based electromobility system, where the diffusion of RES and EVs is giving way to the emergence of ‘vehicle-to-grid’ (V2G) charging applications.
Whitin this context, I mobilise insights from the strategic management and sustainable marketing literatures to uncover and assess the direction and strength of influence of different (non-)price factors in fostering/undermining the willingness of corporate energy consumers to partake in ‘solar V2G charging at work’. To this effect, I conduct a semi-quantitative analysis of 31 company interviews to systematically examine a range of novel ‘adoption chain’ and ‘co-innovation’ risks undermining the adoption potentials of corporate users for expediting the diffusion of multi-purpose innovations across different market segments. In doing so, this study addresses recent calls for examining how the corporate actor can accelerate sustainability transitions across different sectors simultaneously (Andersen and Geels, 2023).
References
Altunay, M., Bergek, A., Palm, A., 2021. Solar business model adoption by energy incumbents: the importance of strategic fit. Environ Innov Soc Transit 40, 501–520. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2021.10.013
Andersen, A.D., Geels, F.W., 2023. Multi-system dynamics and the speed of net-zero transitions: Identifying causal processes related to technologies, actors, and institutions. Energy Res Soc Sci 102, 103178. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103178
Ertelt, S.-M., Kask, J., 2024. Home field advantage: examining incumbency reorientation dynamics in low-carbon transitions. Environ Innov Soc Transit 50, 100802. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2023.100802
Karltorp, K., Lu, S.S., Perez Vico, E., 2024. Three incumbents restructuring the Swedish energy and steel regimes: the case of Hybrit. Ind Innov 31, 1058–1092. https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2024.2376317
Meelen, T., Schwanen, T., 2023. Organizations as users in sustainability transitions: Embedding Vehicle-to-Grid technology in the United Kingdom. Energy Res Soc Sci 106, 103303. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103303
Schaltegger, S., Loorbach, D., Hörisch, J., 2023. Managing entrepreneurial and corporate contributions to sustainability transitions. Bus Strategy Environ 32, 891–902. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3080
Scherrer, A., Rogge, K.S., 2025. When do incumbents adopt radical net-zero technologies? Analysing differences in strategy trajectories of European truck manufacturers towards alternative vehicle technologies. Technol Forecast Soc Change 211, 123872. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123872
van Mossel, A., van Rijnsoever, F.J., Hekkert, M.P., 2018. Navigators through the storm: A review of organization theories and the behavior of incumbent firms during transitions. Environ Innov Soc Transit 26, 44–63. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2017.07.001
Funding(s)
ROAST - ROlling SolAr STorage: Market acceptance of smart solar EV charging at work
Language
English
Keywords
acceleration.
sustainability transitions
smart charging
electric vehicles
solar PV
corporate user
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Event Title
IST'25: International Sustainability Transitions Conference 2025
Event Location
Lisbon
Event Date
24.06.2025
Subject(s)
Division(s)
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
open.access
Name
ISTpresentation_23.06.2025.pdf
Size
1.6 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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