@misc{36418,
  author = {Sydney Forrester and Galen L Barbose and Eric O'Shaughnessy and Naïm R Darghouth},
  title = {Residential Solar-Adopter Income and Demographic Trends: 2024 Update},
  abstract = {<p dir="ltr">The report describes income, demographic, and other socio-economic trends among U.S. residential rooftop solar adopters. The report is based on address-level data for roughly 4.1 million residential rooftop solar systems installed through 2023, representing 87% of all U.S. systems. With its unique size, geographic scope, and level of detail, this report is intended to serve as a foundational reference document for policy-makers, industry stakeholders, and researchers.&nbsp;</p><p dir="ltr">Key findings include the following:</p><ul><li dir="ltr">The median income of households that installed solar in 2023 was about $115k/year, compared to a U.S. median of $75k/year for all households and $94k/year for all U.S. owner-occupied households.</li><li dir="ltr">Compared to owner-occupied households in the same state, 2023 solar-adopter incomes were 7% higher in the median case, and in 10 states, median solar-adopter incomes were below the corresponding median income for all owner-occupied households.</li><li dir="ltr">Roughly 49% of solar adopters in 2023 had incomes below 120% of their area median income (AMI), a threshold sometimes used to define “low-and-moderate income” (or LMI), while 26% were below 80% of AMI, often used to define “low-income”.</li><li dir="ltr">Solar adoption continues to shift toward less affluent households over time, with the median present-day income of solar adopters dropping from $141k for households that installed systems in 2010 to $115k in 2023.</li><li dir="ltr">PV systems installed in 2023 by households earning less than $50k had a median size of 6.4 kW, 33% were third-party owned, and 6% included battery storage, compared to corresponding values of 8.0 kW, 18%, and 14% for households earning more than $200k.</li><li dir="ltr">Compared to all households in their respective state, solar adopters in 2023 were slightly more likely to be college educated and to live in rural areas; had higher home values; and were more likely to live outside a disadvantaged community (DAC), be middle-aged, identify as non-Hispanic white, work in a business or financial occupation, and own a single-family home.</li></ul><p dir="ltr">In conjunction with the report, Berkeley Lab has published an updated accompanying set of&nbsp;<a href="https://emp.lbl.gov/solar-demographics-tool"><u>online data visualizations</u></a>&nbsp;that allow users to further explore the underlying data.&nbsp;Berkeley Lab is also offering related analytical support to states, local agencies, and other organizations on issues related to solar adoption among low-to-moderate income households; requests for analytical support may be submitted through this&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOauinm2NRF-9J39aDh3447F9FDTOsP3tpMHJLzH_orKoTpw/viewform"><u>online form</u></a>.</p>},
  year = {2024},
  month = {12/2024},
}