Influence of Residential Photovoltaic Promotion Policy on Installation Intention in Typical Regions of China

Abstract

Increasing the popularity of distributed photovoltaic technology among Chinese residents is of great significance to achieve the dual carbon goal (emission peak and carbon neutrality). In this study, we collected 1424 questionnaire samples and used PLS-SEM for group modeling and comparative analysis of bungalow and building residents. The results show that living conditions, costs, risks of installation, maintenance, and economic efficiency are the five significant influencing factors for residents to decide whether to install a distributed residential photovoltaic equipment. Compared with building residents, bungalow residents tend to feel more concerned about the cost and risk of residential photovoltaic equipment during installation, maintenance, and use. On the other hand, bungalow residents show greater sensitivity to the corresponding photovoltaic promotion policies. By contrast, building residents pay more attention to the direct benefit created by the installation of residential photovoltaic equipment. Therefore, adopting the strategy from bungalow residents to building residents could help promote the distributed photovoltaic system progressively. As for the subsidy decline, more attention shall be paid to the progress of a gradual reduction of the subsidies. It is advisable to pay attention to integrating the upstream and downstream industry chains of the distributed photovoltaic systems, thus reducing the concern of residents about the difficulty in installing, maintaining, and protecting the distributed photovoltaic equipment. By clarifying the different impacts of promotion policies on the demand side, this study provides a practical reference for the further adjustment made to distributed photovoltaic promotion policies.