IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v134y2019ics0301421519305221.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Distributed solar and environmental justice: Exploring the demographic and socio-economic trends of residential PV adoption in California

Author

Listed:
  • Lukanov, Boris R.
  • Krieger, Elena M.

Abstract

The rapid growth of distributed solar adoption in California provides an opportunity to lower electricity bills for the adopters and realize additional community benefits, including grid resilience and lower grid emissions. It is unclear, however, whether this transition is occurring equitably across the state's various demographic and socioeconomic groups and whether historically disadvantaged environmental justice (EJ) communities have been able to exploit the bill savings and other associated benefits of rooftop solar. Here we analyze the cumulative and annualized (spatial and temporal) rates of PV adoption across California and compare those with data from the state's cumulative impact EJ methodology (CalEnviroScreen). We find persistently lower levels of PV adoption in disadvantaged communities, suggesting clear distributive and equity impacts of existing PV support policies, and indicating that the benefits bypass some of the state's most vulnerable populations. The analysis reveals strong correlation of solar adoption with not only socioeconomic variables, but also with health, environmental and demographic indicators, contributing to our growing understanding of the role these factors play in household clean-energy adoption trends. The results provide a baseline from which to develop more effective policies, strategically design incentives, and track the efficacy of existing solar programs that target disadvantaged communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Lukanov, Boris R. & Krieger, Elena M., 2019. "Distributed solar and environmental justice: Exploring the demographic and socio-economic trends of residential PV adoption in California," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:134:y:2019:i:c:s0301421519305221
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2019.110935
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421519305221
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.110935?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Macintosh, Andrew & Wilkinson, Deb, 2011. "Searching for public benefits in solar subsidies: A case study on the Australian government's residential photovoltaic rebate program," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3199-3209, June.
    2. Kwan, Calvin Lee, 2012. "Influence of local environmental, social, economic and political variables on the spatial distribution of residential solar PV arrays across the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 332-344.
    3. Lara Cushing & Dan Blaustein-Rejto & Madeline Wander & Manuel Pastor & James Sadd & Allen Zhu & Rachel Morello-Frosch, 2018. "Carbon trading, co-pollutants, and environmental equity: Evidence from California’s cap-and-trade program (2011–2015)," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Krieger, Elena M. & Casey, Joan A. & Shonkoff, Seth B.C., 2016. "A framework for siting and dispatch of emerging energy resources to realize environmental and health benefits: Case study on peaker power plant displacement," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 302-313.
    5. Li, Hui & Yi, Hongtao, 2014. "Multilevel governance and deployment of solar PV panels in U.S. cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 19-27.
    6. Robinson, Scott A. & Rai, Varun, 2015. "Determinants of spatio-temporal patterns of energy technology adoption: An agent-based modeling approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 273-284.
    7. Bryan Bollinger & Kenneth Gillingham, 2012. "Peer Effects in the Diffusion of Solar Photovoltaic Panels," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(6), pages 900-912, November.
    8. Makena Coffman & Scott F. Allen & Sherilyn Wee, 2018. "Determinants of Residential Solar Photovoltaic Adoption," Working Papers 2018-1, University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
    9. Sommerfeld, Jeff & Buys, Laurie & Mengersen, Kerrie & Vine, Desley, 2017. "Influence of demographic variables on uptake of domestic solar photovoltaic technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 315-323.
    10. Drury, Easan & Miller, Mackay & Macal, Charles M. & Graziano, Diane J. & Heimiller, Donna & Ozik, Jonathan & Perry IV, Thomas D., 2012. "The transformation of southern California's residential photovoltaics market through third-party ownership," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 681-690.
    11. Sardianou, E. & Genoudi, P., 2013. "Which factors affect the willingness of consumers to adopt renewable energies?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-4.
    12. Rai, Varun & Reeves, D. Cale & Margolis, Robert, 2016. "Overcoming barriers and uncertainties in the adoption of residential solar PV," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 498-505.
    13. Gross, Catherine, 2007. "Community perspectives of wind energy in Australia: The application of a justice and community fairness framework to increase social acceptance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2727-2736, May.
    14. Simpson, Genevieve & Clifton, Julian, 2016. "Subsidies for residential solar photovoltaic energy systems in Western Australia: Distributional, procedural and outcome justice," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 262-273.
    15. Islam, Towhidul & Meade, Nigel, 2013. "The impact of attribute preferences on adoption timing: The case of photo-voltaic (PV) solar cells for household electricity generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 521-530.
    16. Benjamin K. Sovacool & Raphael J. Heffron & Darren McCauley & Andreas Goldthau, 2016. "Energy decisions reframed as justice and ethical concerns," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(5), pages 1-6, May.
    17. Alden Griffith & Monica Higgins & James Turner, 2014. "A rooftop revolution? A multidisciplinary analysis of state-level residential solar programs in New Jersey and Massachusetts," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 4(2), pages 163-171, June.
    18. Braito, Michael & Flint, Courtney & Muhar, Andreas & Penker, Marianne & Vogel, Stefan, 2017. "Individual and collective socio-psychological patterns of photovoltaic investment under diverging policy regimes of Austria and Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 141-153.
    19. Reames, Tony Gerard, 2016. "Targeting energy justice: Exploring spatial, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in urban residential heating energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 549-558.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alipour, M. & Irannezhad, Elnaz & Stewart, Rodney A. & Sahin, Oz, 2022. "Exploring residential solar PV and battery energy storage adoption motivations and barriers in a mature PV market," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 684-698.
    2. Irfan, Mohd & Yadav, Sarvendra & Shaw, Krishnendu, 2021. "The adoption of solar photovoltaic technology among Indian households: Examining the influence of entrepreneurship," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    3. Maria Laura Victória Marques & Daniel de Abreu Pereira Uhr & Bruno Benevit & Júlia Gallego Ziero Uhr, 2024. "An analysis of the relationship between rental housing and adoption of self‐generating energy sources in Brazil using matching methodology," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(2), pages 1570-1592, March.
    4. Grazier, Emma, 2022. "Beyond the Solar Home Price Premium: Solar as a Neighborhood Amenity," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322312, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. O'Shaughnessy, Eric & Grayson, Alexandra & Barbose, Galen, 2023. "The role of peer influence in rooftop solar adoption inequity in the United States," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    6. Cha, Min-kyeong & Struthers, Cory L. & Brown, Marilyn A. & Kale, Snehal & Chapman, Oliver, 2024. "Toward residential decarbonization: Analyzing social-psychological drivers of household co-adoption of rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and efficient HVAC systems in Georgia, U.S," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    7. Lin, Boqiang & Kaewkhunok, Suppawit, 2021. "The role of socio-Culture in the solar power adoption: The inability to reach government policies of marginalized groups," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    8. Hirsh Bar Gai, Dor & Shittu, Ekundayo & Attanasio, Donna & Weigelt, Carmen & LeBlanc, Saniya & Dehghanian, Payman & Sklar, Scott, 2021. "Examining community solar programs to understand accessibility and investment: Evidence from the U.S," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    9. Emily K. Schwartz & Moncef Krarti, 2022. "Review of Adoption Status of Sustainable Energy Technologies in the US Residential Building Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, March.
    10. Fikru, Mahelet G., 2020. "Determinants of electricity bill savings for residential solar panel adopters in the U.S.: A multilevel modeling approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    11. Zhang, Yanquan & Chang, Ruidong & Zuo, Jian & Shabunko, Veronika & Zheng, Xian, 2023. "Regional disparity of residential solar panel diffusion in Australia: The roles of socio-economic factors," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 808-819.
    12. Brown, David P., 2022. "Socioeconomic and demographic disparities in residential battery storage adoption: Evidence from California," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    13. Yao, Huizong & Zang, Chuanfu, 2021. "The spatiotemporal characteristics of electrical energy supply-demand and the green economy outlook of Guangdong Province, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    14. Heleno, Miguel & Sigrin, Benjamin & Popovich, Natalie & Heeter, Jenny & Jain Figueroa, Anjuli & Reiner, Michael & Reames, Tony, 2022. "Optimizing equity in energy policy interventions: A quantitative decision-support framework for energy justice," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    15. Wichsinee Wibulpolprasert & Umnouy Ponsukcharoen & Siripha Junlakarn & Sopitsuda Tongsopit, 2021. "Preliminarily Screening Geographical Hotspots for New Rooftop PV Installation: A Case Study in Thailand," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-30, June.
    16. Tinta, Abdoulganiour Almame & Sylla, Ahmed Yves & Lankouande, Edmond, 2023. "Solar PV adoption in rural Burkina Faso," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PB).
    17. Stewart, Fraser, 2021. "All for sun, sun for all: Can community energy help to overcome socioeconomic inequalities in low-carbon technology subsidies?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    18. Brown, Marilyn A. & Kale, Snehal & Cha, Min-Kyeong & Chapman, Oliver, 2023. "Exploring the willingness of consumers to electrify their homes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    19. Darghouth, Naïm R. & Barbose, Galen & Zuboy, Jarett & Gagnon, Pieter J. & Mills, Andrew D. & Bird, Lori, 2020. "Demand charge savings from solar PV and energy storage," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    20. Gao, Xue & Zhou, Shan, 2022. "Solar adoption inequality in the U.S.: Trend, magnitude, and solar justice policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    21. Stewart, Fraser, 2022. "Friends with benefits: How income and peer diffusion combine to create an inequality “trap” in the uptake of low-carbon technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alipour, M. & Salim, H. & Stewart, Rodney A. & Sahin, Oz, 2020. "Predictors, taxonomy of predictors, and correlations of predictors with the decision behaviour of residential solar photovoltaics adoption: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    2. Lan, Haifeng & Gou, Zhonghua & Lu, Yi, 2021. "Machine learning approach to understand regional disparity of residential solar adoption in Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    3. Palm, Alvar & Lantz, Björn, 2020. "Information dissemination and residential solar PV adoption rates: The effect of an information campaign in Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    4. Best, Rohan & Burke, Paul J. & Nishitateno, Shuhei, 2019. "Evaluating the effectiveness of Australia's Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme for rooftop solar," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Kurdgelashvili, Lado & Shih, Cheng-Hao & Yang, Fan & Garg, Mehul, 2019. "An empirical analysis of county-level residential PV adoption in California," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 321-333.
    6. Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye & Yildirim, Julide & Connor, Peter M. & Truckell, Ian & Hart, Phil, 2021. "Energy transition at local level: Analyzing the role of peer effects and socio-economic factors on UK solar photovoltaic deployment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PB).
    7. Bondio, Steven & Shahnazari, Mahdi & McHugh, Adam, 2018. "The technology of the middle class: Understanding the fulfilment of adoption intentions in Queensland's rapid uptake residential solar photovoltaics market," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 642-651.
    8. Palm, A., 2020. "Early adopters and their motives: Differences between earlier and later adopters of residential solar photovoltaics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    9. Zhang, Jianhua & Ballas, Dimitris & Liu, Xiaolong, 2023. "Neighbourhood-level spatial determinants of residential solar photovoltaic adoption in the Netherlands," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1239-1248.
    10. Dong, Changgui & Sigrin, Benjamin, 2019. "Using willingness to pay to forecast the adoption of solar photovoltaics: A “parameterization + calibration” approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 100-110.
    11. White, Lee V., 2019. "Increasing residential solar installations in California: Have local permitting processes historically driven differences between cities?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 46-53.
    12. Stewart, Fraser, 2022. "Friends with benefits: How income and peer diffusion combine to create an inequality “trap” in the uptake of low-carbon technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    13. Felipe Moraes do Nascimento & Julio Cezar Mairesse Siluk & Fernando de Souza Savian & Taís Bisognin Garlet & José Renes Pinheiro & Carlos Ramos, 2020. "Factors for Measuring Photovoltaic Adoption from the Perspective of Operators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-29, April.
    14. Zander, Kerstin K., 2020. "Unrealised opportunities for residential solar panels in Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    15. Bauwens, Thomas, 2019. "Analyzing the determinants of the size of investments by community renewable energy members: Findings and policy implications from Flanders," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 841-852.
    16. Briguglio, Marie & Formosa, Glenn, 2017. "When households go solar: Determinants of uptake of a Photovoltaic Scheme and policy insights," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 154-162.
    17. Moon-Hyun Kim & Tae-Hyoung Tommy Gim, 2021. "Spatial Characteristics of the Diffusion of Residential Solar Photovoltaics in Urban Areas: A Case of Seoul, South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-16, January.
    18. Best, Rohan & Trück, Stefan, 2020. "Capital and policy impacts on Australian small-scale solar installations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    19. Morton, Craig & Wilson, Charlie & Anable, Jillian, 2018. "The diffusion of domestic energy efficiency policies: A spatial perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 77-88.
    20. Goodarzi, Shadi & Masini, Andrea & Aflaki, Sam & Fahimnia, Behnam, 2021. "Right information at the right time: Reevaluating the attitude–behavior gap in environmental technology adoption," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:134:y:2019:i:c:s0301421519305221. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.