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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Residential Solar-Adopter Income and Demographic Trends: 2022 Update

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1775422· OSTI ID:1775422

The report describes income, demographic, and other socio-economic trends among U.S. residential rooftop solar adopters. The report is based on data for roughly 1.9 million residential rooftop solar systems installed through 2019, representing 82% of all U.S. systems. With its unique size, geographic scope, and level of detail, this report is intended to serve as a foundational reference document for policy-makers, industry stakeholders, and researchers. Key findings include the following: -Solar adopters generally skew towards higher incomes, though that trend continues to diminish over time. -Solar adopter incomes vary considerably and encompass many low-to-moderate income (LMI) households. -Solar-adopter incomes are consistently higher for systems paired with battery storage, for host-owned systems, and for systems installed on single-family homes. -Solar adopters differ from the broader U.S. population in terms of a variety of other demographic and socioeconomic measures. -State-level comparisons indicate that solar-adopters tend to live in neighborhoods with relatively high non-Hispanic White and Asian populations, and with relatively low Hispanic and Black populations.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1775422
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English