Factors Affecting Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic System Adoption Intention: With Special Reference to Middle-Income Households in Kaduwela Municipal Council Area, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The generation and supply of electricity is a prominent contemporary topic in Sri Lanka. Due to high dependency on non-renewable imported energy sources and due to various economic instabilities, a number of challenges have emerged leading to disruption of continuous electricity supply at affordable prices. Thus, it is high time to consider alternative renewable sources of energy and most specialists consider solar energy as one of the most promising technologies. Despite of benefits of solar energy and all the initiatives taken by different parties, Sri Lanka is still at a lower level of producing electricity using solar systems. This study aims to identify the factors affecting rooftop solar photovoltaic system adoption intention of middle-income households in Sri Lanka. The data was collected through a structured questionnaire targeting 75 middle-income residents in Kaduwela area selected using simple random sampling technique. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential analyses. The study findings revealed that both motivating factors and barriers make an impact on rooftop solar photovoltaic system adoption intention. However, situations prevail where not all components of those factors impact adoption intention similarly. The study findings lead to a better understanding of the complex relationships between motivating factors, barriers and rooftop solar photovoltaic system adoption. These insights may be used to evaluate motivating factors and barriers to find relevant interventions in encouraging motivating aspects more while mitigating the barriers, as immense number of benefits can be gained from rooftop solar photovoltaic systems to the country.