Determinants of rooftop solar uptake: A comparative analysis of the residential and non-residential sectors in the Basque Country (Spain)

Abstract

Rooftop solar, both in the residential and the non-residential sector, is emerging rapidly as a popular source of clean electricity. Together with utility-scale photovoltaics, its future growth is essential to achieve decarbonization targets. Therefore, understanding adoption determinants for firms and households is key to efficiently promoting its diffusion. There is a gap, however, in the knowledge of non-residential adoption determinants, as less attention has been given to this sector compared to the residential sector. As a result of this gap, there is an absence of comparative analysis across sectors. As determinants of adoption cannot be assumed to be the same in both sectors, the objective of this research is threefold. First, to analyze whether the residential and non-residential sectors share key determinants of rooftop solar investment; second, to compare the sectoral differences in these determinants; and third, to assess the policy implications of the results obtained to further promote distributed solar photovoltaic energy. For this purpose, a regional case study in the Basque Country (Spain) was conducted, applying key theoretical frameworks to both sectors in a way that maximized the comparability of the results obtained across them. The results showed that adoption determinants are very different across sectors and, therefore, sector-specific policy actions need to be taken in each sector to efficiently promote rooftop solar. For the residential sector, policy actions could build upon behavioral aspects; for the non-residential sector, economic incentives are expected to be more successful, especially among medium size businesses, which are identified as the most promising segment.