IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v37y2009i10p4145-4154.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Profits or preferences? Assessing the adoption of residential solar thermal technologies

Author

Listed:
  • Mills, Bradford F.
  • Schleich, Joachim

Abstract

Solar thermal technologies offer the potential to meet a substantial share of residential water and space heating needs in the EU, but current levels of adoption are low. This paper uses data from a large sample of German households to assess the effects of geographic, residence, and household characteristics on the adoption of solar thermal water and space heating technologies. In addition, the impact of solar thermal technology adoption on household energy expenditures is estimated after controlling for observed household heterogeneity in geographic, residential, and household characteristics. While evidence is found of moderate household energy expenditure savings from combined solar water and space heating systems, the findings generally confirm that low in-home energy cost savings and fixed housing stocks limit the diffusion of residential solar thermal technologies. Little evidence is found of differential adoption by distinct socio-economic groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Mills, Bradford F. & Schleich, Joachim, 2009. "Profits or preferences? Assessing the adoption of residential solar thermal technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 4145-4154, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:37:y:2009:i:10:p:4145-4154
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(09)00332-2
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Linden, Anna-Lisa & Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika & Eriksson, Bjorn, 2006. "Efficient and inefficient aspects of residential energy behaviour: What are the policy instruments for change?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1918-1927, September.
    2. Scott, S., 1997. "Household energy efficiency in Ireland: A replication study of ownership of energy saving items," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 187-208, May.
    3. Schuler, Andreas & Weber, Christoph & Fahl, Ulrich, 2000. "Energy consumption for space heating of West-German households: empirical evidence, scenario projections and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 877-894, October.
    4. Perrels, Adriaan & Weber, Christoph, 2000. "Modelling Impacts of Lifestyle on Energy Demand and Related Emissions," Discussion Papers 228, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Sutherland, Ronald J, 1996. "The economics of energy conservation policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 361-370, April.
    6. Ken Peattie, 2001. "Golden goose or wild goose? The hunt for the green consumer," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(4), pages 187-199, July.
    7. Mills, Bradford F. & Schleich, Joachim, 2010. "Why don't households see the light?: Explaining the diffusion of compact fluorescent lamps," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 363-378, August.
    8. Dillman, Don A. & Rosa, Eugene A. & Dillman, Joye J., 1983. "Lifestyle and home energy conservation in the United States: the poor accept lifestyle cutbacks while the wealthy invest in conservation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 3(3-4), pages 299-315, September.
    9. Gregory N. Price, 2005. "The Causal Effects of Participation in the American Economic Association Summer Minority Program," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(1), pages 78-97, July.
    10. Walsh, Michael J., 1989. "Energy tax credits and housing improvement," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 275-284, October.
    11. Mark Aguiar & Erik Hurst, 2007. "Life-Cycle Prices and Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1533-1559, December.
    12. Dupont, Diane P., 2004. "Do children matter? An examination of gender differences in environmental valuation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 273-286, July.
    13. Benno Torgler & María A.García-Valiñas & Alison Macintyre, 2007. "Differences in Preferences Towards the Environment: The Impact of a Gender, Age and Parental Effect," CREMA Working Paper Series 2008-01, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    14. Curtis, Fred A. & Simpson-Housley, P. & Drever, S., 1984. "Communications on energy Household energy conservation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 452-456, December.
    15. Bengt Kristrom & Pere Riera, 1996. "Is the income elasticity of environmental improvements less than one?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 7(1), pages 45-55, January.
    16. Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Nonparametric Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Under Exogeneity: A Review," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 4-29, February.
    17. Weber, Christoph & Perrels, Adriaan, 2000. "Modelling lifestyle effects on energy demand and related emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 549-566, July.
    18. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    19. Long, James E., 1993. "An econometric analysis of residential expenditures on energy conservation and renewable energy sources," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 232-238, October.
    20. Vanessa Brechling & Stephen Smith, 1994. "Household energy efficiency in the UK," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 15(2), pages 44-56, May.
    21. Sidiras, Dimitrios K. & Koukios, Emmanuel G., 2004. "Solar systems diffusion in local markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(18), pages 2007-2018, December.
    22. Adam B. Jaffe & Robert N. Stavins, 1994. "Energy-Efficiency Investments and Public Policy," The Energy Journal, , vol. 15(2), pages 43-65, April.
    23. Sardianou, Eleni, 2007. "Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3778-3791, July.
    24. Kaldellis, J.K. & Kavadias, K.A. & Spyropoulos, G., 2005. "Investigating the real situation of Greek solar water heating market," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 499-520, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mills, Bradford & Schleich, Joachim, 2010. "What's driving energy efficient appliance label awareness and purchase propensity?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 814-825, February.
    2. Mills, Bradford & Schleich, Joachim, 2012. "Residential energy-efficient technology adoption, energy conservation, knowledge, and attitudes: An analysis of European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 616-628.
    3. Wüstenhagen, Rolf & Schleich, Joachim & Rennings, Klaus & Heinzle, Stefanie & Brohmann, Bettina, 2009. "What's Driving Sustainable Energy Consumption? A Survey of the Empirical Literature," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-013, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. Sardianou, Eleni, 2007. "Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3778-3791, July.
    5. Carsten Lynge Jensen & Lars Gårn Hansen & Troels Fjordbak & Erik Gudbjerg, 2011. "The effect of providing free autopoweroff plugs to households on electricity consumption - A field experiment," IFRO Working Paper 2011/10, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    6. Carsten Lynge Jensen, Lars Garn Hansen, Troels Fjordbak, and Erik Gudbjerg, 2012. "Providing Free Autopoweroff Plugs: Measuring the Effect on Households' Electricity Consumption through a Field Experiment," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    7. Mills, Bradford F. & Schleich, Joachim, 2010. "Why don't households see the light?: Explaining the diffusion of compact fluorescent lamps," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 363-378, August.
    8. Henningsen, Geraldine & Wiese, Catharina, 2019. "Do Household Characteristics Really Matter? A Meta-Analysis on the Determinants of Households’ Energy-Efficiency Investments," MPRA Paper 101701, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Murray, Anthony G. & Mills, Bradford F., 2011. "Read the label! Energy Star appliance label awareness and uptake among U.S. consumers," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1103-1110.
    10. De Groote, Olivier & Pepermans, Guido & Verboven, Frank, 2016. "Heterogeneity in the adoption of photovoltaic systems in Flanders," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 45-57.
    11. Sütterlin, Bernadette & Brunner, Thomas A. & Siegrist, Michael, 2011. "Who puts the most energy into energy conservation? A segmentation of energy consumers based on energy-related behavioral characteristics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 8137-8152.
    12. Nair, Gireesh & Gustavsson, Leif & Mahapatra, Krushna, 2010. "Factors influencing energy efficiency investments in existing Swedish residential buildings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 2956-2963, June.
    13. Han, Hongyun & Wu, Shu, 2018. "Rural residential energy transition and energy consumption intensity in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 523-534.
    14. Schleich, Joachim, 2009. "Barriers to energy efficiency: A comparison across the German commercial and services sector," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2150-2159, May.
    15. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sapio, Alessandro, 2019. "Energy saving in Italy in the late 1990s: Which role for non-monetary motivations?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-1.
    16. Li, Jun & Zhang, Dayong & Su, Bin, 2019. "The Impact of Social Awareness and Lifestyles on Household Carbon Emissions in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 145-155.
    17. Tovar, Miguel A., 2012. "The structure of energy efficiency investment in the UK households and its average monetary and environmental savings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 723-735.
    18. O'Doherty, Joe & Lyons, Sean & Tol, Richard S.J., 2008. "Energy-using appliances and energy-saving features: Determinants of ownership in Ireland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(7), pages 650-662, July.
    19. Mills, Bradford & Schleich, Joachim, 2014. "Household transitions to energy efficient lighting," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 151-160.
    20. Elton Mykerezi & Bradford F. Mills, 2008. "The Wage Earnings Impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 173-187, July.

    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:37:y:2009:i:10:p:4145-4154. 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.