IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natene/v10y2025i5d10.1038_s41560-025-01730-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of residential solar on energy insecurity among low- to moderate-income households

Author

Listed:
  • Madeline Yozwiak

    (Indiana University)

  • Galen Barbose

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Sanya Carley

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Sydney P. Forrester

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • David M. Konisky

    (Indiana University)

  • Trevor Memmott

    (University of Massachusetts Boston)

  • Cristina Crespo Montañés

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Eric O’Shaughnessy

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Abstract

Each year, millions of Americans experience energy insecurity, or the inability to afford enough energy to meet their basic needs. This study evaluates whether residential rooftop solar can serve as a preventative solution to energy insecurity among low- to moderate-income households. Using a national, matched sample of solar and non-solar households based on detailed and address-specific data, we find that solar leads to large, robust and salient reductions in five indicators of energy insecurity. Moreover, the benefits of solar ‘spill over’ to improve a household’s ability to pay other energy bills. The results suggest that rooftop solar may be an effective tool for policymakers who seek to reduce energy insecurity.

Suggested Citation

  • Madeline Yozwiak & Galen Barbose & Sanya Carley & Sydney P. Forrester & David M. Konisky & Trevor Memmott & Cristina Crespo Montañés & Eric O’Shaughnessy, 2025. "The effect of residential solar on energy insecurity among low- to moderate-income households," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 10(5), pages 569-580, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:10:y:2025:i:5:d:10.1038_s41560-025-01730-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01730-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-025-01730-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41560-025-01730-y?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 search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    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:nat:natene:v:10:y:2025:i:5:d:10.1038_s41560-025-01730-y. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.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.