Influential factors to residential building Occupants’ acceptance and adoption of smart energy technologies in Denmark

•Factors that influence smart energy technology acceptance and adoption were examined.•Perceived ease of use and attitudes have positive effects on intention to use SETs.•The trust, policy, awareness, social influence, and knowledge on behavioural intention to use SETs are employed as key determinants of intention to use.•Perceived usefulness has no influence on behavioural intention to use SETs. Although Smart Energy Technologies (SETs) are proven effective in reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency in buildings, adoption of these technologies remains low. Scholars argue that lack of willingness to adopt SETs could hinder the transition to SETs. To address this challenge, this study integrates the substantial literature about technology acceptance, and applied the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the theoretical framework. The research model proposed consists of TAM, and five external factors which have been selected based on literature review. A survey-based method was used, sampling more than 3,000 residents from various cities across Denmark. The validated model includes examining the effects of TAM factors and external factors (e.g., attitudes, trust, knowledge, policy, social influence, and awareness) on Behavioural Intention (BI). The majority of the results show statistically significant effects on BI at p=