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Household wealth of tenants promotes their solar panel access

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  • Best, Rohan

Abstract

What is the impact of wealth constraints on solar-panel access when considering property rights constraints for residential tenants? Prior literature has not addressed the intersection of these important constraints. Using multiple methods with data from large Australian household surveys covering 2015–2018, this paper combines analysis of these two constraints by investigating the influence of wealth on solar-panel access for residential tenants, as opposed to homeowners. A strong wealth effect is observed, even though tenants are not directly responsible for solar-panel adoption in most cases. For tenants with above-median wealth, solar-panel access was higher by 1.4 percentage points, which was around half of the mean solar-panel access for Australian tenants. The economic rationale for this result is that tenants with higher household wealth can afford rental housing with additional attributes, such as solar panels. Focusing on low-wealth tenants would help improve access to solar panels in many countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Best, Rohan, 2022. "Household wealth of tenants promotes their solar panel access," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:106:y:2022:i:c:s0264999321002935
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2021.105704
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    Cited by:

    1. Best, Rohan & Burke, Paul J., 2023. "Small-scale solar panel adoption by the non-residential sector: The effects of national and targeted policies in Australia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Hammerle, Mara & Burke, Paul J., 2022. "Solar PV and energy poverty in Australia's residential sector," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(04), January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Household; Rent; Solar photovoltaic; Tenant; Wealth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • R20 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - General

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