SOCIO-ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS INFLUENCING ADOPTION BEHAVIOR FOR SOLAR HOME LIGHTING SYSTEMS: A STUDY OF THE URBAN HOUSEHOLDS IN PATIALA, PUNJAB
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to study the socioeconomic determinants influencing adoption for Solar Home Lighting System (SHS) by the urban households of Patiala, a district in Punjab state of India that has an immense potential for solar energy. A total of 50 subjects (including 25 users and 25 non-users), in addition to three vendors were interviewed, observing COVID-19 appropriate behavior. The present study could not establish a link between the use of SHLS and socio-demographic characteristics namely Age (x2=0.720), Education (x2=0.00), Occupation (x2=2.258) and Family Size (x2=0.089). Nevertheless, the economic status of users was found to be statistically significantly higher than that of the non-users of SHLS (p0.05). In addition to this, the researcher observed that non-Users could easily afford SHLS, but have been delaying the decision due to lack of awareness, unidentified fear about new technologies and limited knowledge regarding costs versus potential benefits of renewable energy.
Keyword : SHS, adoption, user, non-user, vendors, economic status
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