Supply sunspots and shadows: Business siting patterns and inequitable rooftop solar adoption in the United States

O'Shaughnessy, Eric; Forrester, Sydney; Barbose, Galen

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2022.102920

Supply sunspots and shadows: Business siting patterns and inequitable rooftop solar adoption in the United States

Journal Article · Mon Dec 26 00:00:00 EST 2022 · Energy Research and Social Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102920· OSTI ID:1909200

O'Shaughnessy, Eric ^[1]; Forrester, Sydney ^[1]; Barbose, Galen ^[1]

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Entrepreneurs in certain industries tend to locate new businesses in relatively affluent areas. Preferences to site businesses in affluent areas can reduce low-income household access to certain products. Some argue that business siting patterns could explain inequitable consumption patterns, though such causal claims are often empirically weak. Here, we explore whether business siting patterns partly explain inequitable adoption of rooftop solar photovoltaics in California. We show that solar business formation drives an immediate and sustained increase in local solar adoption, including in low-income areas. However, solar business siting patterns have only weak impacts on solar adoption equity. The data show how solar businesses headquartered in low-income areas nonetheless install solar for relatively affluent customers. Customer-level adoption inequity partly offsets the potential equity gains of siting more businesses in low-income areas. We discuss how the emergent nature and unique business model of rooftop solar help explain these nuanced results.

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), Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1909200

Journal Information:: Energy Research and Social Science, Journal Name: Energy Research and Social Science Vol. 96; ISSN 2214-6296

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (24)

Increasing residential solar installations in California: Have local permitting processes historically driven differences between cities? White, Lee V. Energy Policy, Vol. 124 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.09.034	journal	January 2019
Distributed solar and environmental justice: Exploring the demographic and socio-economic trends of residential PV adoption in California Lukanov, Boris R.; Krieger, Elena M. Energy Policy, Vol. 134 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.110935	journal	November 2019
More alike than different: Profiles of high-income and low-income rooftop solar adopters in the United States Wolske, Kimberly S. Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 63 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101399	journal	May 2020
Rooftop solar in the United States: Exploring trust, utility perceptions, and adoption among California homeowners Horne, Christine; Kennedy, Emily Huddart; Familia, Thomas Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 82 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102308	journal	December 2021
The solar influencer next door: Predicting low income solar referrals and leads Sigrin, Ben; Sekar, Ashok; Tome, Emma Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 86 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102417	journal	April 2022
Are policy incentives for solar power effective? Evidence from residential installations in the Northeast Crago, Christine Lasco; Chernyakhovskiy, Ilya Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Vol. 81 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2016.09.008	journal	January 2017
The median voter and the median consumer: Local private goods and population composition Waldfogel, Joel Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 63, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2007.04.002	journal	March 2008
Why and where do headquarters move? Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa; Vives, Xavier Regional Science and Urban Economics, Vol. 39, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2008.07.001	journal	March 2009
Are poor neighborhoods “retail deserts”? Schuetz, Jenny; Kolko, Jed; Meltzer, Rachel Regional Science and Urban Economics, Vol. 42, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2011.09.005	journal	January 2012
Food store availability and neighborhood characteristics in the United States Powell, Lisa M.; Slater, Sandy; Mirtcheva, Donka Preventive Medicine, Vol. 44, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2006.08.008	journal	March 2007
Peer influence on household energy behaviours Wolske, Kimberly S.; Gillingham, Kenneth T.; Schultz, P. Wesley Nature Energy, Vol. 5, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0541-9	journal	January 2020
The impact of policies and business models on income equity in rooftop solar adoption O’Shaughnessy, Eric; Barbose, Galen; Wiser, Ryan Nature Energy, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-00724-2	journal	November 2020
Disparities in rooftop photovoltaics deployment in the United States by race and ethnicity Sunter, Deborah A.; Castellanos, Sergio; Kammen, Daniel M. Nature Sustainability, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0204-z	journal	January 2019
Vibrant Centers as Locations for High-Growth Firms: An Analysis of Thirty U.S. Metropolitan Areas Malizia, Emil; Motoyama, Yasuyuki The Professional Geographer, Vol. 71, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2018.1501708	journal	November 2018
Characterizing local rooftop solar adoption inequity in the US Darghouth, Naïm R.; O’Shaughnessy, Eric; Forrester, Sydney Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 17, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4fdc	journal	February 2022
Food Deserts and the Causes of Nutritional Inequality* Allcott, Hunt; Diamond, Rebecca; Dubé, Jean-Pierre The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 134, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjz015	journal	May 2019
Retail Stores in Poor Urban Neighborhoods Alwitt, Linda F.; Donley, Thomas D. Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 31, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.1997.tb00830.x	journal	June 1997
Bodegas or Bagel Shops? Neighborhood Differences in Retail and Household Services Meltzer, Rachel; Schuetz, Jenny Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 26, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1177/0891242411430328	journal	December 2011
Urban Start-up Districts: Mapping Venture Capital and Start-up Activity Across ZIP Codes Florida, Richard; King, Karen M. Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 32, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1177/0891242418763731	journal	April 2018
Consumption Inequality Attanasio, Orazio P.; Pistaferri, Luigi Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 30, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.30.2.3	journal	May 2016
The Location and Employment Choices of New Firms: An Econometric Model with Discrete and Continuous Endogenous Variables Carlton, Dennis W. The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 65, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.2307/1924189	journal	August 1983
Stability in Competition Hotelling, Harold The Economic Journal, Vol. 39, Issue 153 https://doi.org/10.2307/2224214	journal	March 1929
Exploring Residential Rooftop Solar Potential in the United States by Race and Ethnicity Reames, Tony G. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, Vol. 3 https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2021.666411	journal	June 2021
Location Choice of New Business Establishments: Understanding the Local Context and Neighborhood Conditions in the United States Chin, Jae Teuk Sustainability, Vol. 12, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020501	journal	January 2020

Similar Records

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

Journal Article · Sun Nov 08 19:00:00 EST 2020 · Nature Energy · OSTI ID:1725804

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
Business siting
Energy transition
Retail deserts
Solar

Supply sunspots and shadows: Business siting patterns and inequitable rooftop solar adoption in the United States

Citation Formats

References (24)

Similar Records

Related Subjects