PV Adoption Research Articles

New trends in solar: A comparative study assessing the attitudes towards the adoption of rooftop PV

The factors affecting the adoption of conventional solar PV have been broadly addressed in the recent literature. However, it is still to determine the public's acceptance of innovations of the traditional solar PV architecture. Building applied photovoltaic technology (BAPV) is a technological innovation that can be installed over existing building surfaces. This study compares an evaluation of the conscious and subconscious attitudinal, control and normative beliefs of American homeowners when randomly primed with two brochures depicting the purchasing, installation, and commissioning of solar PV systems, developed according to the characteristics of conventional and an adhesive “plug and play” BAPV system. The survey instrument (N = 400 survey participants) was designed in consonance to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).When comparing the direct measures for each solar PV technology, no significant differences were found. This may indicate that for those unfamiliar with PV technology, placing an adhesive backing module on the roof is standard procedure and does not impact purchasing intentions. The evaluation further showed that unlike the subconscious control beliefs, social norms and attitudes have a significant impact on forming intentions to adopt solar PV. The implications of these findings for strategy, policy and future research are explored.

Coherent Estimations for Residential Photovoltaic Uptake in Germany Including Spatial Spillover Effects

The share of solar energy in German electricity generation has increased strongly over recent years. This is largely due to guaranteed feed-in tariffs together with decreasing prices for solar panels. Residential PV systems play a decisive part providing households with a possibility to contribute to the Energiewende and benefit from the use of renewable energy. Their regional distribution varies distinctly across Germany implying different requirements in distribution grids as well as uneven utilization of national policy measures. Our paper focusses on the spatial diffusion of roof mounted PV systems and the underlying drivers in Germany. We extend previous findings not only by including additional explanatory variables but also by considering cross-regional spillover using spatial econometric models. Estimation results show that spatial dependence is a relevant determinant for explaining regional clusters of PV adoption. Recurrent visual perception or peer-effects might explain spatial autocorrelation as potential adopters follow decisions by actors in the proximity. Another reason for spatial dependence might be a concentration of craft skills or solar initiatives, which leads to an accelerated diffusion in a region and its surroundings. Whereas the first explanation corresponds to the specification of a spatial lag model, the latter is in line with a spatial error specification. However, our results indicate that although spatial lag is present, spatial dependence in the residuals has higher explanatory power. Hence, we suppose that spatial spillover is not mainly driven by social imitation but by unobserved regional characteristics. Notably, high values for solar radiation, the share of detached houses, electricity demand and inverse population density of a region favour the PV uptake.

An empirical analysis of county-level residential PV adoption in California

To understand long term PV deployment, it is important to explore the underlying mechanisms that drive PV market diffusion. This paper examines the relationships between several social and economic factors and residential PV market diffusion on a county level. The Bass diffusion model was used to estimate diffusion parameters for 46 counties in California. Regression analysis was then applied to find associations between these parameters and several socio-demographic, economic, and political variables in each county. Finally, a Generalized Bass Model was employed to explore the price effect on PV diffusion. We have found supporting evidence of the inverse relationship between attainment of higher education and the coefficient of imitation. We have clearly shown evidence for heterogeneity between counties in one or more of our observed dimensions, or unobserved and possibly confounding factors. Although not significant at the conventional 5% and 10% levels, our Generalized Bass Model nonetheless supports the presence of price-based fluctuations in adoption rates.

SolarView: Georgia Solar Adoption in Context

The local-national gap is a problem currently plaguing the adoption of emerging technologies targeted at resolving energy transition issues that are characterized by disparities in the adoption of innovations and policies on a local level in response to national policy implementation. These disparities reflect a complex system of technical, economic, social, political, and ecological factors linked to the perceptions held by communities and how they see energy development and national/global policy goals. This dataset is an attempt to bridge the local-national gap regarding solar PV adoption in the State of Georgia (U.S.) by aggregating variables from seven different publicly-available sources. The objective of this activity was to design a resource that would help researchers interested in the context underlying solar adoption on the local scale of governance (e.g., the county level). The SolarView database includes information necessary for informing policy-making activities such as solar installation information, a historical county zip code directory, county-level census data, housing value indexes, renewable energy incentive totals, PV rooftop suitability percentages, and utility rates. As this is a database from multiple sources, incomplete data entries are noted.

Motivations and Communication Effectiveness of Solar Energy Adoption among Malaysian Household Consumers

Objective - This paper aims to explain the motivational drives underlying the use of solar energy and to examine the effectiveness of integrated marketing communication tools in the dissemination of solar PV information among household consumers in Malaysia. Methodology/Technique - Data was collected using in-depth interviews, participant observations, and on-site visits to participants' homes. Sixteen private household consumers who were registered with the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia (SEDA), and who were located in different regions of several states in Malaysia, were selected using purposive and snowball sampling. The data was then transcribed and analyzed by identifying the themes and commonalities of the respondents. Findings - The findings indicate that there are 4 motivating factors that lead to solar PV adoption. Those are: economic, societal well-being, environmental well-being, and knowledge/cognition. The integrated marketing communication tools found to be most effective include mass media (television), electronic media (including social media and websites) and interpersonal sources. Novelty - The study elaborates on the motivations underlying the adoption of solar energy based on the real experiences of solar PV users. The study also assesses the effectiveness of integrated marketing communication tools used by various stakeholders in promoting solar PV systems based on user feedback. Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords: Integrated Marketing Communication; Motivation; Residential; Solar Photovoltaic System; Sustainable Marketing. JEL Classification: M31, O33

Modeling the Impact of Innovation Diffusion on Solar PV Adoption in City Neighborhoods

We present an agent-based model for Renewable Energy Technologies (RET) in Qatar city neighborhoods based on the spread of information in social networks within city-neighborhoods. Information diffusion patterns in household and Twitter networks are combined to model the rate of diffusion of RET innovation. The resulting approach provides a methodology for capturing how RET innovation diffusion in online social networks and city neighborhood networks may jointly influence the residential adoption of renewable energy technologies. We demonstrate an application of this approach to an agent-based model of solar PV adoption in Qatar.

Community energy storage: A smart choice for the smart grid?

Energy storage can help integrate local renewable generation, however the best deployment level for storage remains an open question. Using a data-driven approach, this paper simulates 15-min electricity consumption for households and groups them into local communities of neighbors using real locations and the road network in Cambridge, MA. We then simulate PV for these households and use this framework to study battery economics in a high PV adoption, high electricity cost scenario, in order to demonstrate significant storage adoption. We compare the results of storage adoption at the level of individual households to storage adoption on the community level using the aggregated community demands. Under the simulated conditions, we find that the optimum storage at the community level was 65% of that at the level of individual households and each kWh of community battery installed was 64–94% more effective at reducing exports from the community to the wider network. Therefore, given the current increasing rates of residential battery deployment, our research highlights the need for energy policy to develop market mechanisms which facilitate the deployment of community storage.

Assessment of policy based residential solar PV potential using GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis: A case study of Apeldoorn, The Netherlands

The Postal Code Rose policy is part of the 2013 Dutch Energy Agreement of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands, introduced to support sustainable energy growth. This paper presents a case of the Dutch Postal code Rose policy by developing a method combining geographical information systems (GIS) and multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), which allows determining the solar photovoltaic potential when fully applying this policy. As case study, the city of Apeldoorn in the Gelderland province of the Netherlands was selected. The research evaluates the technical potential of the city and then applies it to the Postal code Rose framework by using social criteria. The social criteria comprise of the most important factors that play a role in the adoption of solar PV. The results showed that by fully applying the Post Code Rose policy ~77% of the total electricity demand of Apeldoorn could be covered by solar PV.

Solar PV where the sun doesn’t shine: Estimating the economic impacts of support schemes for residential PV with detailed net demand profiling

Countries with low irradiation and solar PV adoption rates are increasingly considering policy support for solar PV, although consumer electricity demand and solar generation profiles are often mismatched. This paper presents a methodology for policymakers in such conditions to examine more precisely the financial performance of residential solar PV from the consumer perspective as part of an ex-ante policy assessment. We model a range of prospective policy scenarios and compare policy mechanisms that compensate homeowners for generation, those that reduce their upfront costs, and those that assist with financing, using Ireland as a case study. The results confirm the intuitive notion that more generous financial remuneration schemes provide quicker payback; however we observe that in low irradiance regions there is little difference between upfront grants and feed-in-tariffs to accelerate payback timeframes. We also show the importance of retail tariff structure in consumer payback for solar PV systems, with one-part tariffs generating shorter paybacks than two-part tariff structures, although the latter is more likely to secure revenue for electricity infrastructure investment. Drawing from this analysis, the paper proposes some options for the design of policy supports and tariff structures to deliver a sustainable residential renewable electricity system in low-irradiance regions.

Solar PV adoption: Incentives and behaviour

Solar PV adoption: Incentives and behaviour

Serious Games in Breaking Informational Barriers in Solar Energy

The adoption of solar energy – widely assumed to be pivotal to a new energy transformation – has been hindered by persistent information gaps. Recent literature states the importance of using behavioral science to address the persistent gaps between the technical potential of low carbon technologies and the actual adoption of these technologies. With the goal of addressing this important knowledge gap, this study investigates the efficacy of serious games – games with a primary purpose other than entertainment – to overcome informational and perceptive barriers to broader adoption of solar PV in the residential sector. Using a trivia-style game platform, we assess the impact of serious games on intentions and behavior toward solar energy in residential energy customers, applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral control). Our findings indicate that serious games are effective in bridging the information gap and enabling participants to feel agency, thus could prove an effective intervention strategy applied at large scale.

Heterogeneity in the adoption of photovoltaic systems in Flanders

We study the determinants of PV adoption in the region of Flanders (Belgium), where PV adoption reached high levels during 2006–2012, because of active government intervention. Based on a unique dataset at a very detailed spatial level, we estimate a Poisson model to explain the heterogeneity in adoption rates. We obtain the following findings. First, local policies have a robust and significant impact on PV adoption. Second, there is a strong unconditional income effect, implying a Matthew effect in the subsidization of PVs. Our third finding is however that this income effect is largely driven by the fact that wealthier households are more likely to adopt because they tend to be higher users, are more frequent house owners, or own houses that are better suited for PV. In several extensions, we consider the determinants of the average size of installed PVs, and the differential impact of certain variables over time.

The effect of demand response on purchase intention of distributed generation: Evidence from Japan

Participation in demand response (DR) may affect a consumer's electric consumption pattern through consumption load curtailment, a shift in the consumption timing or increasing the utilization of distributed generation (DG). This paper attempts to provide empirical evidence of DR's effect on DG adoption by household consumers. By using the original Internet survey data of 5442 household respondents in Japan conducted in January 2015, we focus on the effect of the time-of-use (TOU) tariff on the purchasing intention of photovoltaic systems (PV). The empirical results show the following: 1) current TOU plan users have stronger PV purchase intentions than the other plan users, 2) respondents who are familiar with the DR program have relatively higher purchase intentions compared with their counterparts, and 3) when the respondents are requested to assume participation in the virtual TOU plan designed for the survey, which resembles plans currently available through major companies, 1.2% of the households have decided to purchase PV. In addition, we provide calculations of TOU's impacts on the official PV adoption and emissions reduction targets, and discuss policy recommendations to increase recognitions and participations in TOU programs.

Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of PV Adoption in the UK and Their Implications for the Smart Grid

Distributed renewable electricity generators facilitate decarbonising the electricity network, and the smart grid allows higher renewable penetration while improving efficiency. Smart grid scenarios often emphasise localised control, balancing small renewable generation with consumer electricity demand. This research investigates the applicability of proposed decentralised smart grid scenarios utilising a mixed strategy: quantitative analysis of PV adoption data and qualitative policy analysis focusing on policy design, apparent drivers for adoption of the deviation of observed data from the feed-in tariff impact assessment predictions. Analysis reveals that areas of similar installed PV capacity are clustered, indicating a strong dependence on local conditions for PV adoption. Analysing time series of PV adoption finds that it fits neither neo-classical predictions, nor diffusion of innovation S-curves of adoption cleanly. This suggests the influence of external factors on the decision making process. It is shown that clusters of low installed PV capacity coincide with areas of high population density and vice versa, implying that while visions of locally-balanced smart grids may be viable in certain rural and suburban areas, applicability to urban centres may be limited. Taken in combination, the data analysis, policy impact and socio-psychological drivers of adoption demonstrate the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding and modelling the adoption of technology necessary to enable the future smart grid.

Growth and competition in renewable energy industries: Insights from an integrated assessment model with strategic firms

This article describes the development, implementation, and application of an integrated assessment modeling framework featuring renewable technology markets with producers engaged in Cournot competition. Scenario results reveal how climate policy and inter-firm learning spillovers interact with market structure to affect wind and solar PV prices, adoption, producer profits, and carbon emissions. Competitive markets yield consistently lower markups than concentrated markets, leading to significantly more adoption and lower emissions. Widespread solar PV adoption is a key component of the largest emissions reductions, but this requires substantial price reductions that only occur if the solar PV market is competitive and learning spills over across producers. Whether a leading firm has a profit incentive to facilitate or obstruct learning spillovers depends on the availability of cost-competitive substitute technologies. If such a substitute exists, the firm prefers strong spillovers that help its industry compete against the substitute; if not, the firm prefers weak spillovers that prevent competitors in its industry from seizing market share. The relationship between price and cumulative capacity is endogenous in the modeling framework. Regression analysis of scenario results yields price learning rates which are similar to unit production cost learning rates in competitive markets, but substantially lower – even negative – in concentrated markets.

Spreading the rooftop revolution: What policies enable solar-as-a-service?

Firms using third-party-ownership (TPO) business models transform solar rooftop installations into a simple service. TPO firms sign long-term agreements with building owners or users to install, finance and manage locally sited solar panels. Customers simply buy solar electricity. The business model can increase total PV market demand by removing central barriers to PV adoption including technology risk, financing needs, and learning costs. TPO is now the dominant US model for residential solar and attempts to use the business model are underway in Europe and Asia.This study discusses how policy makers can enable emergence of solar TPO business models in new markets, a theme novel to extant literature. The paper is based on a comprehensive study of the US solar TPO ecosystem including 50 interviews with key market actors.A downside to the TPO model is potential lock-out of innovative solar technology. Crucial policy actions to enable TPO emergence in new markets are to ensure the legality of the TPO model and to facilitate solar self-consumption (the ability of customers to offset grid electricity costs by using locally generated solar electricity).

A segmentation analysis: the case of photovoltaic in the Netherlands

The paper presents the results of a survey analysis into the adoption and non-adoption of solar PV in Dutch households. It is based on a survey under 817 households undertaken in 2012. Households are aggregated into 4 groups based on whether the adoption is voluntary or involuntary (when people buy a house with solar panels) and whether or not the household can be considered a potential adopter or rejecter. For these four groups, we study and compare the characteristics of adopters and nonadopters of solar PV. Non-adopters are broken down in two groups: rejecters and potential adopters. The segmentation analysis gives more specific insight in the adoption of PV but can also be used to insight in the adoption of other technologies and/or in other countries.

Electric storage in California’s commercial buildings

Most recent improvements in battery and electric vehicle (EV) technologies, combined with some favorable off-peak charging rates and an enormous PV potential, make California a prime market for electric vehicle as well as stationary storage adoption. However, EVs or plug-in hybrids, which can be seen as a mobile energy storage, connected to different buildings throughout the day, constitute distributed energy resources (DER) markets and can compete with stationary storage, onsite energy production (e.g. fuel cells, PV) at different building sites. Sometimes mobile storage is seen linked to renewable energy generation (e.g. PV) or as resource for the wider macro-grid by providing ancillary services for grid-stabilization. In contrast, this work takes a fundamentally different approach and considers buildings as the main hub for EVs/plug-in hybrids and considers them as additional resources for a building energy management system (EMS) to enable demand response or any other building strategy (e.g. carbon dioxide reduction). To examine the effect of, especially, electric storage technologies on building energy costs and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a distributed-energy resources adoption problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program with minimization of annual building energy costs or CO2 emissions. The mixed-integer linear program is applied to a set of 139 different commercial building types in California, and the aggregated economic and environmental benefits are reported. To show the robustness of the results, different scenarios for battery performance parameters are analyzed. The results show that the number of EVs connected to the California commercial buildings depend mostly on the optimization strategy (cost versus CO2) of the building EMS and not on the battery performance parameters. The complexity of the DER interactions at buildings also show that a reduction in stationary battery costs increases the local PV adoption, but can also increase the fossil based onsite electricity generation, making an holistic optimization approach necessary for this kind of analyses.

Intermittently renewable energy, optimal capacity mix and prices in a deregulated electricity market

This paper assesses the effect of intermittently renewable energy on generation capacity mix and market prices. We consider two generating technologies: (1) conventional fossil-fueled technology such as combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT), and (2) sunshine-dependent renewable technology such as photovoltaic cells (PV). In the first stage of the model (game), when only the probability distribution functions of future daily electricity demand and sunshine are known, producers maximize their expected profits by determining the CCGT and PV capacity to be constructed. In the second stage, once daily demand and sunshine conditions become known, each producer selects the daily production by each technology, taking the capacities of both technologies as given, and subject to the availability of the PV capacity, which can be used only if the sun is shining. Using real-world data for Israel, we confirm that the introduction of PV technology amplifies price volatility. A large reduction in PV capacity cost increases PV adoption but may also raise the average price. Thus, when considering the promotion of renewable energy to reduce CO 2 emissions, regulators should assess the behavior of the electricity market, particularly with respect to characteristics of renewable technologies and demand and supply uncertainties.

The US PV Landscape: The outlook for solar in the US appears bright

Take heart. The evidence suggests that, despite apparently uncoordinated federal policies, the citizens and states are moving the US ever closer to widespread solar PV adoption. Refocus correspondent Tom Mead surveys the PV landscape.