Residents are more likely to install solar panels on their own homes if their neighbours have also embraced the technology.
A study by Yale and New York University investigating the effects of social interaction on adoption of solar photovoltaic panels — i.e. whether other people’s enthusiasm for solar power is contagious — discovered that an increase of just ten solar panel installations in a post code was accompanied by 7.8 percent increase in the probability of adoption by others.
In addition to this basic rise in the likelihood that neighbours would adopt the power source, the study also found that making the panels more obvious to others, either by increasing their visibility or by word-of-mouth, led to improved take-up rates particularly amongst those with longer commuting times and larger households.
“These results provide clear evidence of a statistically and economically significant effect,” said the study’s co-author, Bryan Bollinger, an assistant professor of marketing at NYU.
Assistant professor of economics Kenneth Gillingham, who also co-authored the research, added that knowing more about how environmentally friendly technology diffuses amongst communities would prove useful in encouraging consumers to adopt:
“Our finding of an increasing effect of new installations in a
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