IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/engenv/v35y2024i1p113-141.html

Analysis of barriers affecting the adoption of community solar from consumer's perspective: A hybrid ISM-DEMATEL approach

Author

Listed:
  • Pragya Thakur
  • Vincent Herald Wilson

Abstract

Community solar has the capability to broaden solar accessibility and convalesce financial feasibility in comparison to conventional and commercial solar options and holds the potential to be part of the energy mix. Community solar avails ingress and affordability to solar power for those who may not be able to exploit it either due to financial or location constraints. Parallelly, it solves the issues related to electrification, fossil fuel crisis and greenhouse gas emission, contributes to sustainable development goals (SDG 7 and SDG 11), and realization of net-zero goals, however, the presence of barriers makes the adoption or scaling of community solar difficult. This research work intends to identify twelve crucial barriers for the adoption of community solar on the basis of the literature review and the perception of experts in the energy system. In this paper, we adopted hybrid Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) - Decision Ma king Trail and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach for comprehension of the causal and hierarchical relationships among barriers for community solar adoption. The result suggested that lack of consumer awareness, lack of regulations and policies addressing community solar and lack of business model are the most influential barriers as depicted in ISM-DEMATEL based methodology. With the presented novel method, policy-makers, utilities and communities can liaise, coordinate and practice the system-wide advantages of community energy projects. It can also aid the public sector in comprehending the barriers and requirements of people.

Suggested Citation

  • Pragya Thakur & Vincent Herald Wilson, 2024. "Analysis of barriers affecting the adoption of community solar from consumer's perspective: A hybrid ISM-DEMATEL approach," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(1), pages 113-141, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:engenv:v:35:y:2024:i:1:p:113-141
    DOI: 10.1177/0958305X221122930
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0958305X221122930
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0958305X221122930?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Goldschmidt, Rüdiger & Richter, Andreas & Pfeil, Raphael, 2019. "Active stakeholder involvement and organisational tasks as factors for an effective communication and governance strategy in the promotion of e-taxis. Results from a field research lab," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    2. Daniel Wuebben & Jens F. Peters, 2022. "Communicating the Values and Benefits of Home Solar Prosumerism," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Shakouri, Mahmoud & Lee, Hyun Woo & Kim, Yong-Woo, 2017. "A probabilistic portfolio-based model for financial valuation of community solar," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 709-726.
    4. Mah, Daphne Ngar-yin & Cheung, Darren Man-wai & Leung, Michael K.H. & Wang, Maggie Yachao & Wong, Mandy Wai-ming & Lo, Kevin & Cheung, Altair T.F., 2021. "Policy mixes and the policy learning process of energy transitions: Insights from the feed-in tariff policy and urban community solar in Hong Kong," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    5. Tabi, Andrea & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2017. "Keep it local and fish-friendly: Social acceptance of hydropower projects in Switzerland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 763-773.
    6. Urpelainen, Johannes, 2016. "Energy poverty and perceptions of solar power in marginalized communities: Survey evidence from Uttar Pradesh, India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 534-539.
    7. Shakouri, Mahmoud & Lee, Hyun Woo & Choi, Kunhee, 2015. "PACPIM: New decision-support model of optimized portfolio analysis for community-based photovoltaic investment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 607-617.
    8. Sylvester Ngome Chisika & Chunho Yeom, 2021. "Enhancing Sustainable Development and Regional Integration through Electrification by Solar Power: The Case of Six East African States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-20, March.
    9. Stauch, Alexander & Gamma, Karoline, 2020. "Cash vs. solar power: An experimental investigation of the remuneration-related design of community solar offerings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    10. Hirsh Bar Gai, Dor & Shittu, Ekundayo & Attanasio, Donna & Weigelt, Carmen & LeBlanc, Saniya & Dehghanian, Payman & Sklar, Scott, 2021. "Examining community solar programs to understand accessibility and investment: Evidence from the U.S," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    11. Xue, Yan & Lindkvist, Carmel Margaret & Temeljotov-Salaj, Alenka, 2021. "Barriers and potential solutions to the diffusion of solar photovoltaics from the public-private-people partnership perspective – Case study of Norway," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    12. Simpson, Genevieve & Clifton, Julian, 2015. "The emperor and the cowboys: The role of government policy and industry in the adoption of domestic solar microgeneration systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 141-151.
    13. Jahangoshai Rezaee, Mustafa & Yousefi, Samuel & Hayati, Jamileh, 2019. "Root barriers management in development of renewable energy resources in Iran: An interpretative structural modeling approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 292-306.
    14. Lesser, Jonathan A. & Su, Xuejuan, 2008. "Design of an economically efficient feed-in tariff structure for renewable energy development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 981-990, March.
    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. Berka, Anna L. & Hoicka, Christina E. & Sperling, Karl, 2025. "The political economics of civic energy: A framework for comparative research," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    2. Hirsh Bar Gai, Dor & Shittu, Ekundayo & Attanasio, Donna & Weigelt, Carmen & LeBlanc, Saniya & Dehghanian, Payman & Sklar, Scott, 2021. "Examining community solar programs to understand accessibility and investment: Evidence from the U.S," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    3. Nuñez-Jimenez, Alejandro & Mehta, Prakhar & Griego, Danielle, 2023. "Let it grow: How community solar policy can increase PV adoption in cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    4. Shittu, Ekundayo & Weigelt, Carmen, 2022. "Accessibility in sustainability transitions: U.S. electric utilities’ deployment of solar," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    5. Wu, Yunna & Xu, Chuanbo & Ke, Yiming & Chen, Kaifeng & Sun, Xiaokun, 2018. "An intuitionistic fuzzy multi-criteria framework for large-scale rooftop PV project portfolio selection: Case study in Zhejiang, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 295-309.
    6. Roberts Lazdins & Anna Mutule & Diana Zalostiba, 2021. "PV Energy Communities—Challenges and Barriers from a Consumer Perspective: A Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-20, August.
    7. 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).
    8. Zhang, Ruixiaoxiao & Huang, Lijie & Lee, Minhyun & Mei, Shiqi, 2025. "Multi-objective optimization for customized solar business models considering technical-economic-environmental performance: A NSGA-II integrated TOPSIS method," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    9. Al-Alawi, Baha M. & Coker, Alexander D., 2018. "Multi-criteria decision support system with negotiation process for vehicle technology selection," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 278-296.
    10. Che, Xiao-Jing & Zhou, P. & Chai, Kah-Hin, 2022. "Regional policy effect on photovoltaic (PV) technology innovation: Findings from 260 cities in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    11. Ebers Broughel, Anna, 2019. "On the ground in sunny Mexico: A case study of consumer perceptions and willingness to pay for solar-powered devices," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-1.
    12. Tolliver, Clarence & Keeley, Alexander Ryota & Managi, Shunsuke, 2020. "Policy targets behind green bonds for renewable energy: Do climate commitments matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    13. Reinhard Madlener & Weiyu Gao & Ilja Neustadt & Peter Zweifel, 2008. "Promoting renewable electricity generation in imperfect markets: price vs. quantity policies," SOI - Working Papers 0809, Socioeconomic Institute - University of Zurich.
    14. Jenner, Steffen & Groba, Felix & Indvik, Joe, 2013. "Assessing the strength and effectiveness of renewable electricity feed-in tariffs in European Union countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 385-401.
    15. Wen-Tien Tsai, 2020. "Turning Food Waste into Value-Added Resources: Current Status and Regulatory Promotion in Taiwan," Resources, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-11, April.
    16. Ciarreta, Aitor & Espinosa, Maria Paz & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina, 2014. "Is green energy expensive? Empirical evidence from the Spanish electricity market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 205-215.
    17. Daniele, Federica & Pasquini, Alessandra & Clò, Stefano & Maltese, Enza, 2023. "Unburdening regulation: The impact of regulatory simplification on photovoltaic adoption in Italy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    18. Youhyun Lee & Inseok Seo, 2019. "Sustainability of a Policy Instrument: Rethinking the Renewable Portfolio Standard in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-19, May.
    19. 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.
    20. Peter Grösche & Carsten Schröder, 2014. "On the redistributive effects of Germany’s feed-in tariff," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 1339-1383, June.

    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:sae:engenv:v:35:y:2024:i:1:p:113-141. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.