How can village committees improve photovoltaic adoption?

Families with larger roof areas can install multiple photovoltaic sets and garner more rent. In this mode, village committee involvement can effectively mitigate constraints on photovoltaic adoption such as lack of energy services provided by enterprises and imperfect information mechanisms (Kiprop et al. 2019; Kowalska-Pyzalska 2017).

Does community management influence household adoption of rooftop solar photovoltaics in rural China?

This paper examines inequality in household adoption of rooftop solar photovoltaics in rural China through a qualitative study of three villages. The Chinese government promotes distributed solar to drive low-carbon development. However, community management and China’s institutional system influence unequal access.

Can a village adopt a solar power system?

Usually, only about 30% of households can adopt PV. To increase that percentage, the village would need to expand transformer capacity. The costs of that expansion get divided up and paid by later adopters. This raises their construction costs and creates an obstacle to adoption. It is another form of injustice.

Do villagers have a role in photovoltaic negotiations?

From a procedural justice standpoint, the village committee acts as an agent negotiating with photovoltaic enterprises while villagers participate limitedly (e.g., voting at meetings). Regarding pricing roof resources and determining cooperation specifics, villagers’ absence in negotiations diminishes the fairness of the process.

Do community-level support and household resources affect photovoltaic adoption?

We find that structural opportunities provided by communities and households’ own resource endowments have an additive effect on adoption. This highlights the need to consider both community-level support and household resources when evaluating photovoltaic adoption and energy justice.

Should village transformer capacity be increased?

In addition, the village transformer capacity puts limits on how many households can install panels and the system sizes. Usually, only about 30% of households can adopt PV. To increase that percentage, the village would need to expand transformer capacity. The costs of that expansion get divided up and paid by later adopters.