Regional disparity of residential solar panel diffusion in Australia: The roles of socio-economic factors

In following a pathway towards decarbonisation of energy systems, Australia has successfully accelerated the adoption of solar technologies, with approximately three million small-scale distributed solar panels installed on rooftops of Australian homes. This study, in seeking to explore the effects of socio-economic variables on solar energy uptake, firstly explored the historical diffusions of household solar panels across 2668 Australian post - code areas, and classified the postal areas into three groups through K-means clustering according to their solar penetration status, namely the regions with low, medium, and high solar-level. Subsequently, this study carried out a hierarchical regression analysis investigating the significant socio-economic factors impacting solar adoption in each of the three region types. The results indicate that the three solar groups have different sig- nificant impacting factors. In addition, factors, such as detached house and multi-person household, positively contribute to the solar panel uptake, while factors like population density and middle-aged people provide negative contributes. The findings suggest new directions that could be taken for future policies and viable business models, and that specific measures for the varied socio-economic factors to be considered at different stages of solar energy development.

Automated summary

This study investigates the effects of socio-economic variables on solar energy uptake in Australia. The results show that different socio-economic factors impact solar adoption in different regions. This has implications for future policies and business models.