Understanding the householder solar panel consumer: A Markovian model and its societal implications

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Leocata, Marta, Livieri, Giulia, Morlacchi, Silvia, Corvino, Fausto, Flandoli, Franco, Pirni, Alberto Eugenio Ermenegildo
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
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author Leocata, Marta
Livieri, Giulia
Morlacchi, Silvia
Corvino, Fausto
Flandoli, Franco
Pirni, Alberto Eugenio Ermenegildo
author_facet Leocata, Marta
Livieri, Giulia
Morlacchi, Silvia
Corvino, Fausto
Flandoli, Franco
Pirni, Alberto Eugenio Ermenegildo
contents Household adoption of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems is central to the green energy transition, yet diffusion depends on social influence and behavioral biases, as well as payback economics. This study develops a parsimonious Markovian model in which households move sequentially from being unengaged (Carbon) to informed, to planning, and finally to adoption (Green). Transition rates are micro-founded by two mechanisms: (i) social contagion/communication, proxied by the current share of adopters, and (ii) economic profitability, proxied by payback time computed from a Net Present Value framework. Novel to this diffusion setting, bounded rationality is introduced via hyperbolic discounting, creating a procrastination loop that delays adoption even when PV is economically attractive in a long-run perspective. Calibrated on the Italian residential PV diffusion path (2006-2020) and assessed in national and regional applications, the model reproduces observed trajectories and enables forward-looking scenario analysis (2020-2026). Results show that policies yielding similar payback improvements can produce different outcomes once present bias is accounted for and that behaviorally informed intervention are stronger. The findings contribute a micro-to-macro bridge between behavioral economics and technology diffusion modeling and imply that effective policy portfolios (and PV business models) should complement incentives with commitment devices and social-norm peer strategies to accelerate PV uptake and its spillover emissions benefits.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2304_11213
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Understanding the householder solar panel consumer: A Markovian model and its societal implications
Leocata, Marta
Livieri, Giulia
Morlacchi, Silvia
Corvino, Fausto
Flandoli, Franco
Pirni, Alberto Eugenio Ermenegildo
Physics and Society
Probability
60K35, 91A16, 60J27
Household adoption of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems is central to the green energy transition, yet diffusion depends on social influence and behavioral biases, as well as payback economics. This study develops a parsimonious Markovian model in which households move sequentially from being unengaged (Carbon) to informed, to planning, and finally to adoption (Green). Transition rates are micro-founded by two mechanisms: (i) social contagion/communication, proxied by the current share of adopters, and (ii) economic profitability, proxied by payback time computed from a Net Present Value framework. Novel to this diffusion setting, bounded rationality is introduced via hyperbolic discounting, creating a procrastination loop that delays adoption even when PV is economically attractive in a long-run perspective. Calibrated on the Italian residential PV diffusion path (2006-2020) and assessed in national and regional applications, the model reproduces observed trajectories and enables forward-looking scenario analysis (2020-2026). Results show that policies yielding similar payback improvements can produce different outcomes once present bias is accounted for and that behaviorally informed intervention are stronger. The findings contribute a micro-to-macro bridge between behavioral economics and technology diffusion modeling and imply that effective policy portfolios (and PV business models) should complement incentives with commitment devices and social-norm peer strategies to accelerate PV uptake and its spillover emissions benefits.
title Understanding the householder solar panel consumer: A Markovian model and its societal implications
topic Physics and Society
Probability
60K35, 91A16, 60J27
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.11213