Barrier factors in residential photovoltaic system adoption: A conjoint experiment from an administrative burden perspective

Residential photovoltaic (RPV) provides a practical solution for advancing energy transitions and reducing carbon emissions within the residential sector. Recently, RPV policies have witnessed a shift from government-driven to resident-centric approaches. Existing studies on residents' adoption of RPV often focus on isolated, static barriers, overlooking the administrative burdens stemming from residents' frequent interactions with various stakeholders during RPV installation, thus failing to elucidate the logical chain linking multiple barriers to residents' adoption. Based on the policy practices of China, this study develops an integrated framework that connects the barrier factors, the administrative burdens, and residents' adoption willingness. Through a novel conjoint experiment with 875 participants in China, this study demonstrates that all three dimensions of the administrative burdens—encompassing psychological cost, compliance cost, and learning cost—can mediate the relationship between barrier factors and adoption willingness, with psychological cost exerting the most significant influence. Three key barrier factors—investment option, information provider, and community penetration rate—significantly influence residents' adoption. Moreover, variations in benefit descriptions and information providers of the RPV system elicit distinct preferences across demographic groups. These findings offer novel insights into the underlying mechanism of RPV adoption, underscoring the need to move beyond traditional policy designs centered on economic incentives and to implement more targeted interventions to mitigate administrative burdens during RPV promotion.