Triangulating A Mixed-Method Approach to Design Sustainable a Solar Energy Decision-Making Framework: A Malaysian Residential Perspective

Despite Malaysia’s high solar potential and the availability of government incentives under programs like Net Energy Metering (NEM 3.0), the adoption of solar energy systems (SES) among household consumers remains significantly low. This study aims to develop a sustainable decision-making framework by triangulating qualitative insights and quantitative prioritization to better understand the key factors influencing SES adoption. A sequential mixed-method design was employed in two phases. In Phase One, thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with SES adopters under NEM 3.0 revealed six major themes: financial viability, service capability, technology flexibility, company credibility, regulatory feasibility, and external influences. Phase Two applied the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to these six themes, using pairwise comparisons conducted by SES users to quantify the relative importance of each criterion. The AHP findings revealed that Service Capability (26.07%) and Financial Viability (24.79%) were the most influential factors, while External Influences received the lowest weight. These quantitative results were found to be consistent with the qualitative insights from Phase One, indicating strong convergence between what users expressed narratively and how they prioritized factors when forced to make trade-offs.