IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v81y2015icp141-151.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The emperor and the cowboys: The role of government policy and industry in the adoption of domestic solar microgeneration systems

Author

Listed:
  • Simpson, Genevieve
  • Clifton, Julian

Abstract

While domestic solar microgeneration installations have increased in popularity, there is potential for their adoption to slow as financial incentives are reduced or phased out. This study uses a postal survey of 362 solar adopters in Western Australia to identify areas of policy improvement for the adoption of domestic solar systems. Research included quantitative analysis of Likert-type statements and analysis of qualitative comments by survey respondents, including testing the validity of inferences in comments using publicly-available data. While the vast majority of respondents were satisfied with their systems, satisfaction rates were lower for consumers not receiving the premium feed-in tariff and where information on systems was not self-sourced. Consumers considered governments to be untrustworthy and information provided by industry was perceived as inconsistent and inaccessible. Consumers felt they did not receive a fair price for electricity exported to the network and feared that changes in utility prices could render their investment uneconomical. Concerns regarding members of industry may be allayed by certification schemes, but these remain voluntary and limited in effectiveness. These findings underscore the need for increased government activity in providing independent information to consumers and regulating the solar industry, including commitments to long term policies and certification schemes.

Suggested Citation

  • Simpson, Genevieve & Clifton, Julian, 2015. "The emperor and the cowboys: The role of government policy and industry in the adoption of domestic solar microgeneration systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 141-151.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:81:y:2015:i:c:p:141-151
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2015.02.028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421515001019
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.02.028?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. Baskaran, Ramesh & Managi, Shunsuke & Bendig, Mirko, 2013. "A public perspective on the adoption of microgeneration technologies in New Zealand: A multivariate probit approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 177-188.
    2. Islam, Towhidul, 2014. "Household level innovation diffusion model of photo-voltaic (PV) solar cells from stated preference data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 340-350.
    3. Paul Simshauser & Tim Nelson, 2014. "The Consequences of Retail Electricity Price Rises: Rethinking Customer Hardship," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 47(1), pages 13-43, March.
    4. Heras-Saizarbitoria, Iñaki & Cilleruelo, Ernesto & Zamanillo, Ibon, 2011. "Public acceptance of renewables and the media: an analysis of the Spanish PV solar experience," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4685-4696.
    5. West, J. & Bailey, I. & Winter, M., 2010. "Renewable energy policy and public perceptions of renewable energy: A cultural theory approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5739-5748, October.
    6. Simpson, Genevieve & Clifton, Julian, 2014. "Picking winners and policy uncertainty: Stakeholder perceptions of Australia's Renewable Energy Target," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 128-135.
    7. Faiers, Adam & Neame, Charles, 2006. "Consumer attitudes towards domestic solar power systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1797-1806, September.
    8. Tim Nelson & Paul Simshauser & Simon Kelley, 2011. "Australian Residential Solar Feed-in Tariffs: Industry Stimulus or Regressive Form of Taxation?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 113-129, September.
    9. Balcombe, Paul & Rigby, Dan & Azapagic, Adisa, 2013. "Motivations and barriers associated with adopting microgeneration energy technologies in the UK," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 655-666.
    10. McHenry, Mark P., 2012. "Are small-scale grid-connected photovoltaic systems a cost-effective policy for lowering electricity bills and reducing carbon emissions? A technical, economic, and carbon emission analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 64-72.
    11. Schelly, Chelsea, 2014. "Implementing renewable energy portfolio standards: The good, the bad, and the ugly in a two state comparison," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 543-551.
    12. Balcombe, Paul & Rigby, Dan & Azapagic, Adisa, 2014. "Investigating the importance of motivations and barriers related to microgeneration uptake in the UK," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 403-418.
    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. Paul Simshauser & Tim Nelson & Joel Gilmore, 2022. "The sunshine state: implications from mass rooftop solar PV take-up rates in Queensland," Working Papers EPRG2219, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    2. Sommerfeld, Jeff & Buys, Laurie & Vine, Desley, 2017. "Residential consumers’ experiences in the adoption and use of solar PV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 10-16.
    3. Alipour, Mohammad & Taghikhah, Firouzeh & Irannezhad, Elnaz & Stewart, Rodney A. & Sahin, Oz, 2022. "How the decision to accept or reject PV affects the behaviour of residential battery system adopters," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    4. Emily Schulte & Fabian Scheller & Daniel Sloot & Thomas Bruckner, 2021. "A meta-analysis of residential PV adoption: the important role of perceived benefits, intentions and antecedents in solar energy acceptance," Papers 2112.12464, arXiv.org.
    5. Abreu, Joana & Wingartz, Nathalie & Hardy, Natasha, 2019. "New trends in solar: A comparative study assessing the attitudes towards the adoption of rooftop PV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 347-363.
    6. 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.
    7. Sara Ghaboulian Zare & Reza Hafezi & Mohammad Alipour & Reza Parsaei Tabar & Rodney A. Stewart, 2021. "Residential Solar Water Heater Adoption Behaviour: A Review of Economic and Technical Predictors and Their Correlation with the Adoption Decision," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-26, October.
    8. Hanna, Richard & Leach, Matthew & Torriti, Jacopo, 2018. "Microgeneration: The installer perspective," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(PA), pages 458-469.
    9. Best, Rohan & Trück, Stefan, 2020. "Capital and policy impacts on Australian small-scale solar installations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    10. 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).
    11. Simpson, Genevieve, 2017. "Network operators and the transition to decentralised electricity: An Australian socio-technical case study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 422-433.
    12. 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).
    13. Esplin, Ryan & Nelson, Tim, 2022. "Redirecting solar feed in tariffs to residential battery storage: Would it be worth it?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 373-389.
    14. Parkins, John R. & Rollins, Curtis & Anders, Sven & Comeau, Louise, 2018. "Predicting intention to adopt solar technology in Canada: The role of knowledge, public engagement, and visibility," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 114-122.
    15. Shittu, Ekundayo & Weigelt, Carmen, 2022. "Accessibility in sustainability transitions: U.S. electric utilities’ deployment of solar," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    16. 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.
    17. dos Santos, L.L.C. & Canha, L.N. & Bernardon, D.P., 2018. "Projection of the diffusion of photovoltaic systems in residential low voltage consumers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(PA), pages 384-401.
    18. Parra, David & Swierczynski, Maciej & Stroe, Daniel I. & Norman, Stuart.A. & Abdon, Andreas & Worlitschek, Jörg & O’Doherty, Travis & Rodrigues, Lucelia & Gillott, Mark & Zhang, Xiaojin & Bauer, Chris, 2017. "An interdisciplinary review of energy storage for communities: Challenges and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 730-749.

    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. 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.
    2. Klingler, Anna-Lena, 2017. "Self-consumption with PV+Battery systems: A market diffusion model considering individual consumer behaviour and preferences," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1560-1570.
    3. Esplin, Ryan & Nelson, Tim, 2022. "Redirecting solar feed in tariffs to residential battery storage: Would it be worth it?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 373-389.
    4. Hackbarth, André, 2018. "Attitudes, preferences, and intentions of German households concerning participation in peer-to-peer electricity trading," Reutlingen Working Papers on Marketing & Management 2019-2, Reutlingen University, ESB Business School.
    5. Zander, Kerstin K., 2020. "Unrealised opportunities for residential solar panels in Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    6. 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).
    7. Garlet, Taís Bisognin & Ribeiro, José Luis Duarte & de Souza Savian, Fernando & Mairesse Siluk, Julio Cezar, 2019. "Paths and barriers to the diffusion of distributed generation of photovoltaic energy in southern Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 157-169.
    8. Sara Ghaboulian Zare & Reza Hafezi & Mohammad Alipour & Reza Parsaei Tabar & Rodney A. Stewart, 2021. "Residential Solar Water Heater Adoption Behaviour: A Review of Economic and Technical Predictors and Their Correlation with the Adoption Decision," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-26, October.
    9. Collier, Samuel H.C. & House, Jo I. & Connor, Peter M. & Harris, Richard, 2023. "Distributed local energy: Assessing the determinants of domestic-scale solar photovoltaic uptake at the local level across England and Wales," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    10. Selvakkumaran, Sujeetha & Ahlgren, Erik O., 2019. "Determining the factors of household energy transitions: A multi-domain study," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 54-75.
    11. Hanna, Richard & Leach, Matthew & Torriti, Jacopo, 2018. "Microgeneration: The installer perspective," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(PA), pages 458-469.
    12. 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.
    13. Heiskanen, Eva & Matschoss, Kaisa, 2017. "Understanding the uneven diffusion of building-scale renewable energy systems: A review of household, local and country level factors in diverse European countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 580-591.
    14. Hackbarth, André & Löbbe, Sabine, 2020. "Attitudes, preferences, and intentions of German households concerning participation in peer-to-peer electricity trading," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    15. Jimenez, Maritza & Franco, Carlos J. & Dyner, Isaac, 2016. "Diffusion of renewable energy technologies: The need for policy in Colombia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 818-829.
    16. Tsantopoulos, Georgios & Arabatzis, Garyfallos & Tampakis, Stilianos, 2014. "Public attitudes towards photovoltaic developments: Case study from Greece," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 94-106.
    17. Palm, Jenny, 2018. "Household installation of solar panels – Motives and barriers in a 10-year perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-8.
    18. 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).
    19. Natália Gava Gastaldo & Graciele Rediske & Paula Donaduzzi Rigo & Carmen Brum Rosa & Leandro Michels & Julio Cezar Mairesse Siluk, 2019. "What is the Profile of the Investor in Household Solar Photovoltaic Energy Systems?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-18, November.
    20. de la Hoz, Jordi & Martín, Helena & Miret, Jaume & Castilla, Miguel & Guzman, Ramon, 2016. "Evaluating the 2014 retroactive regulatory framework applied to the grid connected PV systems in Spain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 329-344.

    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:81:y:2015:i:c:p:141-151. 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.