Factors affecting the social acceptance of agricultural and solar energy systems: The case of new cities in Egypt

Abstract

Can the building sector become productive and, in parallel, help create livable spaces? Agricultural and solar energy systems can contribute to the building sector’s transformation; however, research on these systems has mostly focused on technological development and achieved gains, while overlooking a key driver of success, which is social acceptance. Only recently has the discussion on social acceptance of the systems gained momentum revealing that their adoption, especially in residential sectors, is bound to end users. Therefore, using a quantitative, survey-based, case study approach, we investigated what influences the social acceptance of end users, i.e., the residents of residential buildings in Egyptian new cities. Based on UTAUT – a Technology Acceptance theory – seven underlying factors were tackled using a statistical contingency analysis (SPSS, n = 274) to test their association with (a) social acceptance of agricultural and solar energy systems and (b) the sociocultural background of the residents. Results revealed that social acceptance of the systems was associated with factors like the expected effort for implementation, concerns and anxieties about the systems, external supporting conditions, and social influences – while surprisingly, it was not associated with the expected performance of the systems, their perceived costs, and the need for financial support. Most studied factors showed associations with the sociocultural aspects, except for the expected effort and perceived cost of solar systems and financial facilitations of both systems, which proved to be completely independent of the sociocultural background of the residents. The conducted analysis and concluded insights about the underlying factors behind social acceptance have not been previously covered in detail for the two systems in comparison, especially for the case of new Egyptian residences. The study findings can support relevant stakeholders such as policymakers, suppliers, engineers, etc. in triggering the social acceptance of the systems in Egypt and contexts of similar settings.