Solar energy surge: The socio-economic determinants of the photovoltaic systems growth in Australia

The installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on residential units is one of the measures that countries around the world are implementing to mitigate the impact of the global warming crisis. Australia has become the world leader in the solar PV sector since it introduced its solar-related program in 2001. The adoption was initially spurred by government-driven incentive schemes providing opportunities for early adopters to financially capitalise on the technology through feed-in tariffs. Over time, the growth was further propelled by the phenomenon often referred to as the neighbourhood effects. This paper conducted a statistical analysis to investigate the demographic composition, at postal area (POA) resolution, associated with the PV uptake in Australia. To detect the presence of the neighbourhood effects, a formula was developed to simplify its quantification, drawing analogies to kinematics. The results of the regression analysis reveal that gender, share of certain age groups, land area, and dwellings with a vehicle do not correlate with adoption. On the other hand, other variables such as marital status, weekly household income, number of bedrooms, population and dwellings densities, do have influences, positively and negatively. Furthermore, the “accelerated rate” determines a positive impact of the neighbourhood effects in the range of 15 to 20 additional PV units installed per year per POA. A publicly accessible tool was developed with this study that can aid policymakers in exploring the socio-economic indicators identified in this analysis as predictors of the diffusion of the technology for effective policies, regulations, and schemes.