%0 Journal Article
%A Eric O'Shaughnessy
%B Energy Policy
%D 2022
%G eng
%R https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112881
%T Rooftop solar incentives remain effective for low- and moderate-income adoption
%U https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421522001069?via%3Dihub
%V 163
%8 04/2022
%X <p><span>Financial incentives for rooftop solar&nbsp;</span><a class="topic-link" title="Learn more about photovoltaic from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/photovoltaics">photovoltaic</a><span>&nbsp;(PV) adoption have declined in the United States over time by policy design. Incentive phase-down can efficiently promote early adoption and avoid ineffective payments to late adopters. However, incentive phase-down may exclude low- and moderate-income (LMI) households from realizing the same financial benefits from PV adoption as high-income&nbsp;<a class="topic-link" title="Learn more about early adopters from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/early-adopter">early adopters</a><span>. Here, data from two state-level LMI PV incentive programs are analyzed to test whether incentives still drive PV adoption among LMI households. As a first order approximation, the analysis suggests that incentives drove adoption that would not otherwise have happened in about 80% of cases. To the extent that policymakers prioritize PV adoption equity as part of the emerging&nbsp;<a class="topic-link" title="Learn more about energy justice from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/energy-justice">energy justice</a>&nbsp;policy agenda, the results suggest that ongoing incentive support for LMI adoption may be merited.</span></span></p>