Decay radius of climate decision for solar panels in the city of Fresno, USA
Open accessAbstract
To design incentives towards achieving climate mitigation targets, it is important to understand the mechanisms that affect individual climate decisions such as solar panel installation. It has been shown that peer effects are important in determining the uptake and spread of household photovoltaic installations. Due to coarse geographical data, it remains unclear whether this effect is generated through geographical proximity or within groups exhibiting similar characteristics. Here we show that geographical proximity is the most important predictor of solar panel implementation, and that peer effects diminish with distance. Using satellite imagery, we build a unique geo-located dataset for the city of Fresno to specify the importance of small distances. Employing machine learning techniques, we find the density of solar panels within the shortest measured radius of an address is the most important factor in determining the likelihood of that address having a solar panel. The importance of geographical proximity decreases with distance following an exponential curve with a decay radius of 210 meters. The dependence is slightly more pronounced in low-income groups. These findings support the model of distance-related social diffusion, and suggest priority should be given to seeding panels in areas where few exist.
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- [25]Barton-Henry, K., Wenz, L. & Levermann, A. Data and codes for the publication: Decay radius of climate decision for solar panels in the city of Fresno, USA. 10.5281/zenodo.4676430 (2021). PMC8060319 33883574 · DOI
Cited by
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Tackling climate change with machine learning
Rolnick, D., Donti, P. L., Kaack, L. H., Kochanski, K., Lacoste, A., Sankaran, K., Ross, A. S., Milojevic-Dupont, N., Jaques, N., Waldman-Brown, A., et al. (2023) · ACM Computing Surveys · doi:10.1145/3485128 · Cited by 336 · see citing works
- Authors
- Barton-Henry, K., Wenz, L., & Levermann, A.
- Affiliations
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (DE)
- Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (DE)
- University of Potsdam (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Wenz, Leonie
- Venue
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2021-04-21
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 8571-8571
- ISSN
- 2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8060319
- OpenAlex
- W3153964222
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 7.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- publish.UP (University of Potsdam) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- RENATE (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Publication Database PIK (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- RENATE (cc-by)
- Funders
- Volkswagen Foundation (Europe and Global Challenges)
- Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung (PIK) e.V.
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Innovation Diffusion and Forecasting
- Keywords
- solar panel adoption, peer effects, geographic proximity, social diffusion, photovoltaic installations, low-income households, Fresno
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