IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i6p2552-d336312.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examining the Key Drivers of Residential Solar Adoption in Upstate New York

Author

Listed:
  • Chelsea Schelly

    (Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49930, USA)

  • James C. Letzelter

    (GenMetrix LLC, 260 1st Ave S, Suite 200 Box 142, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA)

Abstract

This research examines the decision factors influencing adoption of residential solar electric power systems in upstate New York. New York has a goal to provide 100% of electric energy in the State through renewable resources, which includes solar electricity, by 2030. Thus, identifying the most important decision factors may be useful in understanding potential means of promoting solar technology adoption. Through an online survey of homeowners in upstate New York who have installed residential solar systems, the research examined the importance of decision factors influencing the decision to adopt and how factors have changed over time. The research finds that environmental motivations are slightly more important than economics and that perception of solar installers is also important to adopters. This work contributes new insights to the field of research examining solar and renewable energy technology adoption at the residential scale, addresses the role of policy in promoting solar adoption, and provides insights for developers and others looking to enhance the rates of solar technology adoption at the residential scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Chelsea Schelly & James C. Letzelter, 2020. "Examining the Key Drivers of Residential Solar Adoption in Upstate New York," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-13, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:6:p:2552-:d:336312
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2552/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2552/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Burns, John Edward & Kang, Jin-Su, 2012. "Comparative economic analysis of supporting policies for residential solar PV in the United States: Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) potential," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 217-225.
    2. Carley, Sanya, 2009. "State renewable energy electricity policies: An empirical evaluation of effectiveness," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3071-3081, August.
    3. Marcello Graziano & Kenneth Gillingham, 2015. "Spatial patterns of solar photovoltaic system adoption: The influence of neighbors and the built environment," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(4), pages 815-839.
    4. Sarzynski, Andrea & Larrieu, Jeremy & Shrimali, Gireesh, 2012. "The impact of state financial incentives on market deployment of solar technology," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 550-557.
    5. Shrimali, Gireesh & Kniefel, Joshua, 2011. "Are government policies effective in promoting deployment of renewable electricity resources?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 4726-4741, September.
    6. Kwan, Calvin Lee, 2012. "Influence of local environmental, social, economic and political variables on the spatial distribution of residential solar PV arrays across the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 332-344.
    7. Sommerfeld, Jeff & Buys, Laurie & Vine, Desley, 2017. "Residential consumers’ experiences in the adoption and use of solar PV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 10-16.
    8. Rai, Varun & Reeves, D. Cale & Margolis, Robert, 2016. "Overcoming barriers and uncertainties in the adoption of residential solar PV," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 498-505.
    9. Krasko, Vitaliy A. & Doris, Elizabeth, 2013. "State distributed PV policies: Can low cost (to government) policies have a market impact?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 172-181.
    10. Bauner, Christoph & Crago, Christine L., 2015. "Adoption of residential solar power under uncertainty: Implications for renewable energy incentives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 27-35.
    11. Bryan Bollinger & Kenneth Gillingham, 2012. "Peer Effects in the Diffusion of Solar Photovoltaic Panels," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(6), pages 900-912, November.
    12. Noll, Daniel & Dawes, Colleen & Rai, Varun, 2014. "Solar Community Organizations and active peer effects in the adoption of residential PV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 330-343.
    13. Balcombe, Paul & Rigby, Dan & Azapagic, Adisa, 2014. "Investigating the importance of motivations and barriers related to microgeneration uptake in the UK," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 403-418.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bruno Domenech & Gema Calleja & Jordi Olivella, 2021. "Residential Photovoltaic Profitability with Storage under the New Spanish Regulation: A Multi-Scenario Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Best, Rohan & Chareunsy, Andrea, 2022. "The impact of income on household solar panel uptake: Exploring diverse results using Australian data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    3. Outcault, Sarah & Sanguinetti, Angela & Nelson, Leslie, 2022. "Technology characteristics that influence adoption of residential distributed energy resources: Adapting Rogers’ framework," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Olivella, Jordi & Domenech, Bruno & Calleja, Gema, 2021. "Potential of implementation of residential photovoltaics at city level: The case of London," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 577-585.
    5. Zhang, Yanquan & Chang, Ruidong & Zuo, Jian & Shabunko, Veronika & Zheng, Xian, 2023. "Regional disparity of residential solar panel diffusion in Australia: The roles of socio-economic factors," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 808-819.
    6. Bilal Khalid & Mariusz Urbański & Monika Kowalska-Sudyka & Elżbieta Wysłocka & Barbara Piontek, 2021. "Evaluating Consumers’ Adoption of Renewable Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-15, November.
    7. Familia, Thomas & Horne, Christine, 2022. "Customer trust in their utility company and interest in household-level battery storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Crago, Christine Lasco & Chernyakhovskiy, Ilya, 2017. "Are policy incentives for solar power effective? Evidence from residential installations in the Northeast," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 132-151.
    2. Palm, Alvar & Lantz, Björn, 2020. "Information dissemination and residential solar PV adoption rates: The effect of an information campaign in Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    3. Sun, Bixuan & Sankar, Ashwini, 2022. "The changing effectiveness of financial incentives: Theory and evidence from residential solar rebate programs in California," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    4. Fabian Scheller & Isabel Doser & Daniel Sloot & Russell McKenna & Thomas Bruckner, 2020. "Exploring the Role of Stakeholder Dynamics in Residential Photovoltaic Adoption Decisions: A Synthesis of the Literature," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-31, November.
    5. Lemay, Amélie C. & Wagner, Sigurd & Rand, Barry P., 2023. "Current status and future potential of rooftop solar adoption in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    6. Fabian Scheller & Isabel Doser & Emily Schulte & Simon Johanning & Russell McKenna & Thomas Bruckner, 2021. "Stakeholder dynamics in residential solar energy adoption: findings from focus group discussions in Germany," Papers 2104.14240, arXiv.org.
    7. Crago, Christine L. & Koegler, Eric, 2018. "Drivers of growth in commercial-scale solar PV capacity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 481-491.
    8. Karjalainen, Sami & Ahvenniemi, Hannele, 2019. "Pleasure is the profit - The adoption of solar PV systems by households in Finland," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 44-52.
    9. Palm, A., 2020. "Early adopters and their motives: Differences between earlier and later adopters of residential solar photovoltaics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    10. Hsu, Jenneille Hwai-Yuan, 2018. "Predictors for adoption of local solar approval processes and impact on residential solar installations in California cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 463-472.
    11. Stewart, Fraser, 2022. "Friends with benefits: How income and peer diffusion combine to create an inequality “trap” in the uptake of low-carbon technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    12. Li, Hui & Yi, Hongtao, 2014. "Multilevel governance and deployment of solar PV panels in U.S. cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 19-27.
    13. Esplin, Ryan & Nelson, Tim, 2022. "Redirecting solar feed in tariffs to residential battery storage: Would it be worth it?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 373-389.
    14. Alipour, M. & Salim, H. & Stewart, Rodney A. & Sahin, Oz, 2020. "Predictors, taxonomy of predictors, and correlations of predictors with the decision behaviour of residential solar photovoltaics adoption: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    15. Briguglio, Marie & Formosa, Glenn, 2017. "When households go solar: Determinants of uptake of a Photovoltaic Scheme and policy insights," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 154-162.
    16. Lonergan, Katherine Emma & Sansavini, Giovanni, 2022. "Business structure of electricity distribution system operator and effect on solar photovoltaic uptake: An empirical case study for Switzerland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    17. Paul Simshauser & Tim Nelson & Joel Gilmore, 2022. "The sunshine state: implications from mass rooftop solar PV take-up rates in Queensland," Working Papers EPRG2219, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    18. Kim, Jung Eun & Tang, Tian, 2020. "Preventing early lock-in with technology-specific policy designs: The Renewable Portfolio Standards and diversity in renewable energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    19. Collier, Samuel H.C. & House, Jo I. & Connor, Peter M. & Harris, Richard, 2023. "Distributed local energy: Assessing the determinants of domestic-scale solar photovoltaic uptake at the local level across England and Wales," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    20. Reeves, D.C. & Rai, V., 2018. "Strike while the rebate is hot: Savvy consumers and strategic technology adoption timing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 325-335.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:6:p:2552-:d:336312. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.