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Title: Diffusion into new markets: evolving customer segments in the solar photovoltaics market

Abstract

The US residential solar market is growing quickly, and as solar adoption diffuses into new populations, later adopters may differ significantly from earlier ones. Using a unique household-level survey dataset including 1234 adopters and 790 non-adopters from San Diego County, California, we explore differences in attitudinal and socio-economic factors for three groups: (i) adopters and non-adopters; (ii) early and more recent adopters; (iii) consumers adopting via buying or leasing. Our results suggest that adopters overall have higher incomes, are more educated, live in larger homes, and expect to stay in their homes for longer than their non-adopting peers. They also differ in their expectations of electricity retail rate changes and the impact solar could have on their home resale value. When examining differences between early and more recent adopters, we find that recent adopters are more representative of general homeowners and more politically moderate. They are also increasingly installing solar to protect against future electricity price increases and to lower electricity costs as opposed to adopting strictly for environmental reasons. Furthermore, more recent adopters differ significantly from earlier adopters in the situations that prompted them to adopt. Lastly, the findings demonstrate how solar markets are evolving, reflecting changes in themore » underlying drivers of consumer adoption as well as innovative solar marketing strategies.« less

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
OSTI Identifier:
1222412
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1225319; OSTI ID: 1239046
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-6A20-64612
Journal ID: ISSN 1748-9326
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308; SM13SB01
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Environmental Research Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Environmental Research Letters Journal Volume: 10 Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 1748-9326
Publisher:
IOP Publishing
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; 24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION; distributed PV; technology diffusion; customer segmentation; marketing

Citation Formats

Sigrin, Ben, Pless, Jacquelyn, and Drury, Easan. Diffusion into new markets: evolving customer segments in the solar photovoltaics market. United Kingdom: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/084001.
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Sigrin, Ben, Pless, Jacquelyn, & Drury, Easan. Diffusion into new markets: evolving customer segments in the solar photovoltaics market. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/084001
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Sigrin, Ben, Pless, Jacquelyn, and Drury, Easan. Mon . "Diffusion into new markets: evolving customer segments in the solar photovoltaics market". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/084001.
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@article{osti_1222412,
title = {Diffusion into new markets: evolving customer segments in the solar photovoltaics market},
author = {Sigrin, Ben and Pless, Jacquelyn and Drury, Easan},
abstractNote = {The US residential solar market is growing quickly, and as solar adoption diffuses into new populations, later adopters may differ significantly from earlier ones. Using a unique household-level survey dataset including 1234 adopters and 790 non-adopters from San Diego County, California, we explore differences in attitudinal and socio-economic factors for three groups: (i) adopters and non-adopters; (ii) early and more recent adopters; (iii) consumers adopting via buying or leasing. Our results suggest that adopters overall have higher incomes, are more educated, live in larger homes, and expect to stay in their homes for longer than their non-adopting peers. They also differ in their expectations of electricity retail rate changes and the impact solar could have on their home resale value. When examining differences between early and more recent adopters, we find that recent adopters are more representative of general homeowners and more politically moderate. They are also increasingly installing solar to protect against future electricity price increases and to lower electricity costs as opposed to adopting strictly for environmental reasons. Furthermore, more recent adopters differ significantly from earlier adopters in the situations that prompted them to adopt. Lastly, the findings demonstrate how solar markets are evolving, reflecting changes in the underlying drivers of consumer adoption as well as innovative solar marketing strategies.},
doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/084001},
journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
number = 8,
volume = 10,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Mon Aug 03 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Mon Aug 03 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}
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Journal Article:
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/084001
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Cited by: 46 works
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Works referenced in this record:

Consumer attitudes towards domestic solar power systems
journal, September 2006

Exploring the market for third-party-owned residential photovoltaic systems: insights from lease and power-purchase agreement contract structures and costs in California
journal, February 2015

Analyzing consumer acceptance of photovoltaics (PV) using fuzzy logic model
journal, May 2012

Diffusion of environmentally-friendly energy technologies: buy versus lease differences in residential PV markets
journal, February 2013

Solar Community Organizations and active peer effects in the adoption of residential PV
journal, April 2014

Deconstructing Solar Photovoltaic Pricing: The Role of Market Structure, Technology, and Policy
report, December 2014

Customer concerns about uncertainty and willingness to pay in leasing solar power systems
journal, June 2011

  • Shih, L. H.; Chou, T. Y.
  • International Journal of Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 8, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1007/BF03326238

Models of Decision Making and Residential Energy Use
journal, November 2007

Spatial patterns of solar photovoltaic system adoption: The influence of neighbors and the built environment
journal, October 2014

  • Graziano, M.; Gillingham, K.
  • Journal of Economic Geography, Vol. 15, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1093/jeg/lbu036

Peer Effects in the Diffusion of Solar Photovoltaic Panels
journal, November 2012

The transformation of southern California's residential photovoltaics market through third-party ownership
journal, March 2012

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