The impact of policies and business models on income equity in rooftop solar adoption

O’Shaughnessy, Eric; Barbose, Galen; Wiser, Ryan; Forrester, Sydney; Darghouth, Naïm

doi:10.1038/s41560-020-00724-2

The impact of policies and business models on income equity in rooftop solar adoption

Journal Article · Sun Nov 08 23:00:00 EST 2020 · Nature Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-00724-2· OSTI ID:1725804

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[2]; Darghouth, Naïm ^[2]

Clean Kilowatts, Boulder, CO (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Low- and moderate-income (LMI) households are less likely to adopt rooftop solar photovoltaics (PVs) than higher-income households in the United States. As the existing literature has shown, this dynamic can decelerate rooftop PV deployment and has potential energy justice implications, in light of the cost-shifting between PV and non-PV households that can occur under typical rate structures and incentive programmes. Here we show that some state policy interventions and business models have expanded PV adoption among LMI households. Additionally, we find evidence that LMI-specific financial incentives, PV leasing and property-assessed financing have increased the diffusion of PV adoption among LMI households in existing markets and have driven more installations into previously underserved low-income communities. By shifting deployment patterns, we posit that these interventions could catalyse peer effects to increase PV adoption in low-income communities even among households that do not directly benefit from the interventions.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1725804

Journal Information:: Nature Energy, Journal Name: Nature Energy Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 6; ISSN 2058-7546

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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