IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v190y2022icp684-698.html

Exploring residential solar PV and battery energy storage adoption motivations and barriers in a mature PV market

Author

Listed:
  • Alipour, M.
  • Irannezhad, Elnaz
  • Stewart, Rodney A.
  • Sahin, Oz

Abstract

Previous studies show that in a mature solar photovoltaic (PV) market, the choice to accept or reject PV is closely related to battery adoption decision. This study presents the results of a survey (n = 604) conducted to investigate the household characteristics and relative importance of motivations and barriers in home battery and PV adoption decisions in South East Queensland (Australia). The research further compares the attitudinal similarities and differences among distinct groups of households based on the technology use and adoption timing. The findings demonstrate that earlier and later adopters of PV, as well as non-adopters, have relatively similar sociodemographic attributes, whereas battery users epitomise the traditional characteristics of innovators. Lower electricity bills and interest in the system are found to be the most critical factors in PV uptake. The main barriers to adoption are the system cost, followed by the anticipation of buying a more affordable PV system and battery at the same time. Similar to the purchase of PV, financial factors led by the initial costs drive the battery adoption decision. However, noneconomic factors matter more to those who have already adopted the storage system. This study reveals that the choice to install PV could adversely affect the uptake of batteries for at least a period. Furthermore, the influence of informal channels (peer effects) is deemed least important in the uptake of both systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Alipour, M. & Irannezhad, Elnaz & Stewart, Rodney A. & Sahin, Oz, 2022. "Exploring residential solar PV and battery energy storage adoption motivations and barriers in a mature PV market," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 684-698.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:190:y:2022:i:c:p:684-698
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2022.03.040
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148122003172
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2022.03.040?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mohammad Alipour & Rodney A. Stewart & Oz Sahin, 2021. "Beyond the Diffusion of Residential Solar Photovoltaic Systems at Scale: Allegorising the Battery Energy Storage Adoption Behaviour," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-12, August.
    2. Sara Ghaboulian Zare & Reza Hafezi & Mohammad Alipour & Reza Parsaei Tabar & Rodney A. Stewart, 2021. "Residential Solar Water Heater Adoption Behaviour: A Review of Economic and Technical Predictors and Their Correlation with the Adoption Decision," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-26, October.
    3. Katsanevakis, Markos & Stewart, Rodney A. & Lu, Junwei, 2017. "Aggregated applications and benefits of energy storage systems with application-specific control methods: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 719-741.
    4. Palm, Jenny, 2018. "Household installation of solar panels – Motives and barriers in a 10-year perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-8.
    5. 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.
    6. 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).
    7. Curtius, Hans Christoph & Hille, Stefanie Lena & Berger, Christian & Hahnel, Ulf Joachim Jonas & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2018. "Shotgun or snowball approach? Accelerating the diffusion of rooftop solar photovoltaics through peer effects and social norms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 596-602.
    8. Bryan Bollinger & Kenneth Gillingham, 2012. "Peer Effects in the Diffusion of Solar Photovoltaic Panels," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(6), pages 900-912, November.
    9. 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.
    10. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    11. Scott Agnew & Paul Dargusch, 2015. "Effect of residential solar and storage on centralized electricity supply systems," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 315-318, April.
    12. 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.
    13. Lukanov, Boris R. & Krieger, Elena M., 2019. "Distributed solar and environmental justice: Exploring the demographic and socio-economic trends of residential PV adoption in California," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    14. Dóci, Gabriella & Vasileiadou, Eleftheria, 2015. "“Let׳s do it ourselves” Individual motivations for investing in renewables at community level," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 41-50.
    15. Michael G. Smith & Johannes Urpelainen, 2014. "Early Adopters of Solar Panels in Developing Countries: Evidence from Tanzania," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 31(1), pages 17-37, January.
    16. Alipour, M. & Salim, H. & Stewart, Rodney A. & Sahin, Oz, 2021. "Residential solar photovoltaic adoption behaviour: End-to-end review of theories, methods and approaches," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 471-486.
    17. Braito, Michael & Flint, Courtney & Muhar, Andreas & Penker, Marianne & Vogel, Stefan, 2017. "Individual and collective socio-psychological patterns of photovoltaic investment under diverging policy regimes of Austria and Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 141-153.
    18. Bergek, Anna & Mignon, Ingrid, 2017. "Motives to adopt renewable electricity technologies: Evidence from Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 547-559.
    19. Karakaya, Emrah & Hidalgo, Antonio & Nuur, Cali, 2015. "Motivators for adoption of photovoltaic systems at grid parity: A case study from Southern Germany," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1090-1098.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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).
    2. 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).
    3. Alipour, Mohammad & Taghikhah, Firouzeh & Irannezhad, Elnaz & Stewart, Rodney A. & Sahin, Oz, 2022. "How the decision to accept or reject PV affects the behaviour of residential battery system adopters," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    4. 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).
    5. Hackbarth, André, 2018. "Attitudes, preferences, and intentions of German households concerning participation in peer-to-peer electricity trading," Reutlingen Working Papers on Marketing & Management 2019-2, Reutlingen University, ESB Business School.
    6. Emily Schulte & Fabian Scheller & Daniel Sloot & Thomas Bruckner, 2021. "A meta-analysis of residential PV adoption: the important role of perceived benefits, intentions and antecedents in solar energy acceptance," Papers 2112.12464, arXiv.org.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Zhang, Nan & Hwang, Bon-Gang & Lu, Yujie & Ngo, Jasmine, 2022. "A Behavior theory integrated ANN analytical approach for understanding households adoption decisions of residential photovoltaic (RPV) system," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    10. Hackbarth, André & Löbbe, Sabine, 2020. "Attitudes, preferences, and intentions of German households concerning participation in peer-to-peer electricity trading," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    11. Evangelos Panos & Stavroula Margelou, 2019. "Long-Term Solar Photovoltaics Penetration in Single- and Two-Family Houses in Switzerland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-33, June.
    12. 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).
    13. Du, Hua & Han, Qi & de Vries, Bauke & Sun, Jun, 2024. "Community solar PV adoption in residential apartment buildings: A case study on influencing factors and incentive measures in Wuhan," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 354(PA).
    14. Best, Rohan, 2023. "Assets power solar and battery uptake in Kenya," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    15. Nurwidiana Nurwidiana & Bertha Maya Sopha & Adhika Widyaparaga, 2022. "Simulating Socio-Technical Transitions of Photovoltaics Using Empirically Based Hybrid Simulation-Optimization Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-25, April.
    16. Sommerfeldt, Nelson & Lemoine, Ida & Madani, Hatef, 2022. "Hide and seek: The supply and demand of information for household solar photovoltaic investment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    17. San-Martín, Enrique & Elizalde, Patxi, 2024. "Determinants of rooftop solar uptake: A comparative analysis of the residential and non-residential sectors in the Basque Country (Spain)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    18. Yamashiro, Ririka & Mori, Akihisa, 2023. "Combined third-party ownership and aggregation business model for the adoption of rooftop solar PV–battery systems: Implications from the case of Miyakojima Island, Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    19. Wichsinee Wibulpolprasert & Umnouy Ponsukcharoen & Siripha Junlakarn & Sopitsuda Tongsopit, 2021. "Preliminarily Screening Geographical Hotspots for New Rooftop PV Installation: A Case Study in Thailand," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-30, June.
    20. 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).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:renene:v:190:y:2022:i:c:p:684-698. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    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.