The private and social consequences of purchasing an electric vehicle and solar panels: Evidence from California

Rising greenhouse gas emissions raise the risk of severe climate change. The household sector's greenhouse gas emissions have increased over time as more people drive gasoline cars and consume electricity generated using coal and natural gas. The household sector's emissions would decline if more households drove electric vehicles and owned solar panels. In recent years automobile manufacturers have been producing high-performance electric vehicles, and solar panels are becoming more efficient and less expensive. Using several data sets from California, we document evidence of the growth of the joint purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles and solar panels. We discuss pricing and quality trends for these green durable goods. (C) 2016 University of Venice. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.