Affordable and Accessible Solar for All: Barriers, Solutions, and On-Site Adoption Potential

Technological diffusion trends suggest a more equitable future for rooftop solar in the United States

“…We recognize that more complex diffusion models could yield more precise insights into adoption equity patterns. Another strategy would be to forecast LMI adoption shares through agent-based modeling (Rai and Robinson 2015); an approach used by Heeter et al (2021) to model LMI PV adoption under various policy scenarios. Still, visual inspections of the PV (see figure 1) and reference-case (see figure 4) data support the premise that LMI adoption shares follow an S-curve with respect to cumulative deployment.…”

“…These studies largely conclude that PV and EVs are inequitably deployed due to context-specific barriers to LMI adoption. Heeter et al (2021) is the only study, to our knowledge, to project LMI PV adoption trends into the future. That study projects LMI PV adoption to increase over time and explores how incentives could accelerate LMI adoption.…”

Are You Philanthropy-Ready? How to Work with Foundations on Mission-Aligned Community Solar

“…Solar power is the largest source of new U.S. electric generation, and a pillar of the fight against climate change (Feldman et al 2021). Community solar allows anyone to participate in the solar economy, especially those who may not have access to traditional rooftop solar opportunities, such as renters and residents of affordable housing (Heeter et al 2021). Also known as shared solar or solar gardens, community solar allows customers to buy or lease part of a larger, off-site shared solar photovoltaic (PV) system, or subscribe to the output.…”

Increasing Access to Grid-Tied Distributed Photovoltaics for Low-Income Populations: Considerations for Developing Countries

“…Governments around the world are under immense pressure to promote inclusive economic growth, reduce budget deficits, and promote sustainable development goals. In developing countries, such goals may potentially be addressed through public policy approaches to encourage the use of distributed photovoltaic (DPV) systems 1 among low-income electricity customers. 2 At the same time, low-income customers face numerous barriers to DPV deployment, including lack of access to capital and financing, lack of awareness about the technology, lower levels of homeownership, and insufficient economic incentive because of lower retail tariffs, among others.…”

“…2 At the same time, low-income customers face numerous barriers to DPV deployment, including lack of access to capital and financing, lack of awareness about the technology, lower levels of homeownership, and insufficient economic incentive because of lower retail tariffs, among others. As a result, low-income customers are often the least likely in developed and developing countries to deploy solar [1]. 3 Not only do lower income customers face barriers to adoption, under some tariff designs and regulatory frameworks, they may potentially cross-subsidize solar installed on the roofs of higher income households (see "What is Cross-Subsidization?…”