Unequal Uptake: Assessing Distributional Disparities in the Residential Solar Market / Jackson Dorsey, Derek C. Wolfson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dorsey, Jackson.

Contributor:

Wolfson, Derek C.

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w32814.

NBER working paper series no. w32814

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2024.

Summary:

We examine technology adoption and consumer welfare disparities across demographic groups using data from an online solar photovoltaic (PV) marketplace. Low-income households are 25% less likely to purchase solar through the platform and obtain 53% lower expected consumer surplus than high-income households. Moreover, Black and Hispanic households are relatively less likely to purchase solar through the platform and obtain lower consumer surplus than White and Asian households. We develop a method to decompose the drivers of consumer welfare disparities between demographic groups. Differences in demand fully account for the consumer surplus disparities between high- and low-income households and between White and Hispanic households. However, supply-side factors explain 37% of the consumer surplus gap between White and Black households. Black households get relatively fewer bids and face higher prices, and installers have higher implied costs to serve them. Lastly, we assess counterfactuals that offer targeted price discounts to certain demographic groups.

Notes:

August 2024.

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