A study of households’ intention towards solar panel installation case study: villagers of the northern regions of Iran

ABSTRACT Taking into account the devastating consequences of greenhouse gas emissions and therefore shifting energy from fossil fuels into renewable resources to achieve low-carbon societies has become one of the greatest challenges of our world. As a high-rate energy consumption country and carbon-intensive economy, Iran with its immense sun-kissed lands is greatly prone to develop the renewables’ share in its energy consumption basket. By implementing an integrated analytical model based on Diffusion of Innovation theory (DOI) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) this study has investigated households’ intention to apply solar panel technology for residential consumption. A total of 462 completed questionnaires were collected among villagers of Mazandaran to validate the proposed hypotheses by using structural equation modeling. Overall, a designed model that included the variables of compatibility, relative advantage, perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) explained 23% of the variances of households’ intention. While the results also confirmed significant paths from perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) to installation intention, the study concluded that due to the weaknesses in communication channels, lack of appropriate energy culture and unprepared social structure, achieving the objectives of solar panel development is a premature target for the current context.