This research examines the decision factors influencing adoption of residential solar electric power systems in upstate New York. New York has a goal to provide 100% of electric energy in the State through renewable resources, which includes solar electricity, by 2030. Thus, identifying the most important decision factors may be useful in understanding potential means of promoting solar technology adoption. Through an online survey of homeowners in upstate New York who have installed residential solar systems, the research examined the importance of decision factors influencing the decision to adopt and how factors have changed over time. The research finds that environmental motivations are slightly more important than economics and that perception of solar installers is also important to adopters. This work contributes new insights to the field of research examining solar and renewable energy technology adoption at the residential scale, addresses the role of policy in promoting solar adoption, and provides insights for developers and others looking to enhance the rates of solar technology adoption at the residential scale.

This research project explores the decision factors that influenced the adoption of residential solar power systems in upstate New York. New York has a Clean Energy Standard (CES) that requires 50 percent of electric energy in the State be supplied by renewable resources, which includes solar electricity, by 2030. Currently, and into the near future, New York supports the solar industry by providing incentives in the form of subsidies and financing for solar power systems. The program, NY-Sun, is administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). However, the subsidies are on a schedule of declining magnitude and will be phased out by 2023. Thus, identifying the most important decision factors may be useful in understanding potential means of promoting solar technology adoption in the context of declining economic incentivization. Data for this research was collected through an online survey of homeowners in upstate New York who have installed residential solar power systems. In addition to capturing demographic data about the respondents (e.g., gender, age, education level, income), the survey asked participants to rate the importance of decision factors that influenced their decision to adopt a solar power system at home. The analysis provides a demographic profile of the adopters and a descriptive statistical analysis of the importance of the decision factors. A correlation analysis was used to determine how the adoption factors correlate with demographic factors. Finally, the data was analyzed to identify how factors have changed over time. The goal of this research is to contribute new information to the field for the benefit of policymakers and solar industry actors.