Reducing information barriers to solar adoption: Experimental evidence from India

Abstract

Off-grid solar technologies hold promise for unelectrified and low-quality electricity settings; however, their adoption remains low. Important barriers to adoption, such as incomplete information remain relatively unexplored in developing countries. In collaboration with a solar company, a randomized experiment was implemented in three Indian states to test whether alleviating information asymmetries between sales agents and potential customers improved predictors and other indicators of adoption of solar rooftop systems. The company’s sales agents were randomly assigned to receive a tablet with either an application designed to ensure potential customers received accurate solar product information during the sales process or only the basic sales catalogue uploaded. Post-treatment, prospective customers approached by the treated sales agents report greater knowledge of the solar products and a better impression of sales agents’ product knowledge and professionalism. The treatment significantly increased potential customers’ intent-to-adopt, a stated preference measure, by 15%; however, the impact on actual adoption was statistically insignificant.