Rural–Urban Differences in Solar Renewable Energy Investments Supported by Public Finance in Poland

Abstract

The deployment of renewable energy (RE) needs to be policy-driven and supported by public funds. Hence, the aim of this study was to find out whether urban and rural areas benefit from public funds for RE deployment equally and whether factors determining other types of investments also determine investments in RES. To do so, we carried out: (i) comparative analyses of qualitative and quantitative data describing 2642 investments in solar RE supported by the European Union funds and carried out in Poland under operational programmes in 2014–2020; (ii) multiple linear regressions, evaluating the predictions. Findings showed that principles of supporting solar RE investments were the same for all kinds of beneficiaries in both urban and rural areas. However, in rural areas, most RE investments cumulated in eastern, north-eastern and south-eastern parts of Poland, and depended only on few socio-economic characteristics. RE investments in urban areas were dispersed all over the country rather evenly and did not depend on any of the socio-economic characteristics. Individual households appeared to be important silent partners to RE investments carried out by local governments. Thus, future policies should focus on them more to increase the deployment and use of solar RE.