When my friends and relatives go solar, should I go solar too? —— Evidence from rural Sichuan province, China

Abstract

Solar energy is vital for solving the problems of rural environmental pollution and energy poverty. Using the sample from China, the study combines the theory of conformity tendencies and the theory of strong-weak ties, and utilizes the Logistic model and propensity score matching (PSM) method to investigate the conformity tendencies in farmers' adoption of solar energy. Inspired by the diffusion of innovation theory and technology acceptance model, the study also provides insights into the mechanism of conformity tendencies. It was found that, when relatives and friends (RF) use solar energy, farmers are also more likely to adopt solar energy, but that the use of solar energy by strong ties (ST) had a more significant effect on farmers than weak ties (WT). Apart from that, farmers' perceptions of the health benefits (PHB) and environmental benefits (PEB) of solar technology played a significant mediating effect in the conformity tendencies, although the magnitude of the effect varied across the strong and weak ties.