IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natene/v9y2024i6d10.1038_s41560-024-01485-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the potential of non-residential solar to tackle energy injustice

Author

Listed:
  • Moritz Wussow

    (Stanford University
    Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg)

  • Chad Zanocco

    (Stanford University)

  • Zhecheng Wang

    (Stanford University)

  • Rajanie Prabha

    (Stanford University)

  • June Flora

    (Stanford University)

  • Dirk Neumann

    (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg)

  • Arun Majumdar

    (Stanford University
    Stanford University)

  • Ram Rajagopal

    (Stanford University
    Stanford University)

Abstract

Despite the observed disparities in US residential solar deployment, there is limited insight into whether these disparities exist for the non-residential sector. Here we use DeepSolar, a comprehensive photovoltaic database constructed with satellite imagery, to assess solar deployment equity based on the US Justice40’s disadvantaged community measure. We find that disadvantaged communities have less non-residential solar (−38%), but this disparity is notably higher for residential solar (−67%). Across-state variations are consistent for residential solar (−81% to −49%) yet highly heterogeneous for non-residential solar (−66% to +34%). Using scenarios to explore the potential for microgrids powered by solar on building rooftops larger than 1,000 square metres, we estimate that 63% of disadvantaged communities could meet at least 20% of annual residential electricity demand. Our research argues for a new focus on non-residential solar as a way to strengthen resilience and accelerate local deployment of clean energy resources to promote energy justice.

Suggested Citation

  • Moritz Wussow & Chad Zanocco & Zhecheng Wang & Rajanie Prabha & June Flora & Dirk Neumann & Arun Majumdar & Ram Rajagopal, 2024. "Exploring the potential of non-residential solar to tackle energy injustice," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 9(6), pages 654-663, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:9:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1038_s41560-024-01485-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-024-01485-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-024-01485-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41560-024-01485-y?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.

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Melita Van Steenberghe & Aislinn D’hulster & Johannes Weytjens & Marten Ovaere & Koen Schoors, 2024. "Tracking Demographic and Financial Trends in Renewable Energy Cooperative Membership in Belgium using Survey and Bank Transaction Data," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 24/1093, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    2. Yifan Li & Aijian Huang & Lingxi Zhou & Bohan Li & Muyun Zheng & Zewen Zhuang & Chang Chen & Chen Chen & Feiyu Kang & Ruitao Lv, 2024. "Main-group element-boosted oxygen electrocatalysis of Cu-N-C sites for zinc-air battery with cycling over 5000 h," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:nat:natene:v:9:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1038_s41560-024-01485-y. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    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.