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.

Which villages in China have a PV project?

Given the extensive piloting in these provinces, we chose three villages for fieldwork. Village S in Weifang City, Shandong, known as the “first PV village”, has enterprise-funded PV. Village Z in Nanjing City, Jiangsu has government-funded PV. Village Q in Nanjing has resident-funded PV.

How does SEPAP support solar installations in high-poverty rural villages?

SEPAP supports solar installations in high-poverty rural villages through three primary types of projects: village-level arrays (for projects generally no more than 300 kW), village-level joint construction arrays (for projects generally no more than 6000 kW), and rooftop installations targeted toward poor villagers (typically several kW).

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).

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 local authorities play a role in household rooftop photovoltaic adoption?

The research revealed salient geographic disparities in household rooftop photovoltaic adoption, closely associated with the role of local authorities (particularly village committees) in new energy promotion schemes.