McCarthy, Breda (2024) Broadening equitable access to solar: renters, non-adopters and the impact of consumption values on attitudes and installation intentions. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management. (In Press)

Preview

PDF (Publisher Accepted Version) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Addressing inequities in rooftop solar access is crucial to achieving decarbonisation and energy justice goals. This study contributes to the literature by applying an adapted consumption values model to the rooftop solar context and by examining renters’ perceptions of factors that would reduce barriers to solar uptake. An online survey (n = 331) of Australian households reveals that value-for-money perceptions are the only significant difference between adopters and non-adopters of solar. Structural equation modelling shows that, while idealistic values influence attitudes towards rooftop solar, pragmatic values drive installation intentions, which is aligned with prior research. Logistic regression shows that the higher the functional value (defined as the perceived utility of a product based on value for money, performance or quality perceptions) and the higher the conditional value (defined as the perceived utility of a product based on the circumstances faced by the decision maker), the higher the odds of installing solar. The findings are consistent with studies reporting significant cost barriers to solar adoption. Several recommendations for policy makers and practitioners are made to support equitable access to rooftop solar and help address the negative effects of past policies that favoured homeowners over renters.

Item ID:	84282
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2159-5356
Related URLs:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Copyright Information:	© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Date Deposited:	04 Dec 2024 23:37
	More Statistics