Still in love with solar energy? Installation size, affect, and the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies
Journal
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
ISSN
1364-0321
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2021-05-02
Author(s)
Abstract
Solar and wind energy are expected to play a key role in creating a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 and decarbonizing energy production in general, albeit requiring significant deployment. This presupposes that the population accepts such energy sources, thus necessitates understanding how people perceive energy systems. Unlike the abundant literature about wind energy, social acceptance of solar energy has received less attention, especially concerning large solar installations. Opinion polls indicate that solar energy enjoys a high level of socio-political acceptance and is preferred to other renewables, although it is unclear whether this acceptance persists as the technology is deployed on a large scale. This paper helps close this gap by describing the results of a representative survey (n = 601) conducted using a between-subject design to examine how attitudes of the public towards solar energy vary based on the size of installations, how the latter compare to attitudes towards wind energy, and what the role of affect is in the former. Results reveal that the stronger preference for solar power decreases to a similar level as that for wind energy when comparing installation of similar sizes, highlighting that solar energy installations may not easily be scaled up. The study also shows that affect plays an important role in forming people’s attitudes towards wind and solar, especially concerning large-scale installations. This underlines the need for policymakers and project developers, who aim to deploy renewables on a large scale, to attend to the affective component of decision-making.
Language
English
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Pergamon
Volume
145
Number
111107
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
263226
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
open.access
Name
S1364032121003956
Size
86.3 KB
Format
HTML
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