Rooftop solar, electric vehicle, and heat pump adoption in rural areas in the United States

Abstract

The deployment of residential rooftop solar, electric vehicles (EVs), and heat pumps is critical to meet climate goals. We evaluate historical community- and household-level technology adoption patterns in rural areas, and explore associations with housing, socioeconomic, demographic, political, spatial, and energy equity characteristics. We reveal several emergent patterns and disparities in rural technology adoption. We find that higher educational attainment and democratic voting rates are significant predictors of adoption across all residential technologies. Specifically, EV adoption shows the highest association with democratic voting rates. We also find that rooftop solar adoption is most significantly inversely associated with energy burden, while there is a high degree of spatial dependence in heat pump adoption. Rooftop solar and EV adoption are particularly correlated at household, community, and state levels. Findings suggest that designing policies and programs that promote information diffusion, target low-income renters, and are tailored to the geographic and political context may together increase technology adoption rates and ensure more equitable diffusion. By identifying the factors that influence technology adoption in rural areas, we aim to inform the development of policies and programs that can facilitate the widespread deployment of clean energy technologies and contribute to the achievement of climate goals.