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People are more likely to install solar panels if their neighbours have them, according to a study by marketing and economics researchers at Stanford University. 

According to the study, for every one percent increase in the number of installations in a particular postcode, the time it takes until the next adoption of solar panels decreases by one percent.

The authors of the study -- Bryan Bollinger and Kenneth Gillingham -- put this viral effect down to a number of different factors, including peer pressure, infrastructure and training and marketing density. The report examined the installations of solar panels on houses in California by postcode between 2001 and 2009.

So neighbours could be motivated to install solar panels because they want to project a green image once their neighbours have already done so. They could also be influenced by the social learning effect of having neighbours speak positively and informatively about their experience with a particular contractor. Furthermore, there is anecdotal evidence that companies selling solar panels ramp up their marketing efforts in areas where they have installed panels to take advantage of peer effects.

They accepted that one obvious reason why there might be clustering is because of environmental preferences, whereby people who generally live a "greener" lifestyle are more likely to buy into emerging green technologies. Interestingly, greater environmental preferences (driving hybrids, carpooling, walking to work, using public transport) appear to make people less likely to adopt solar panels based on their neighbours' decision to adopt, suggesting that environmentalists are early adopters who aren't as influenced by their peer's actions.

The full study is available here.


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