Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Economics

PDF

Economics Honors Projects

2018

Economics

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Are Peer Effects Present In Residential Solar Installations? Evidence From Minnesota And Wisconsin, Nadia Mezic Jan 2018

Are Peer Effects Present In Residential Solar Installations? Evidence From Minnesota And Wisconsin, Nadia Mezic

Economics Honors Projects

There are geographic differences in the rate of adoption of residential photovoltaic (PV) solar. Are adoption rates in small scale localities (counties and zip codes) influenced by previous, nearby adoptions? This paper adds to the literature on Peer Effects with an analysis of Minnesota and Wisconsin zip codes. I use residential adoption data from the OpenPV Project in an empirical analysis of social interactions. My findings indicate that there is a small but significant effect of nearby adoptions at the zip code level. These peer effects are shown to be nuanced by policy incentives such as the XCEL Solar Rewards …