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This study aims to examine the determinants of adoption intention toward the rooftop solar photovoltaic (RSPV) systems among residents of peri-urban villages of Gurugram, Haryana, India. This study also analyzes the impact of the adoption of RSPV systems on carbon neutrality from a behavioral perspective.

Data was collected using a self-administrated structured questionnaire from 208 male villagers (195 usable) of 22 villages using the purposive sampling technique.

Results revealed that relative advantage, followed by simplicity, trialability, observability and compatibility, positively and significantly impact villagers’ attitude toward adopting RSPV systems in their homes. Perceived severity and perceived vulnerability significantly influence the perceived behavioral control of villagers toward adopting the RSPV systems. The results show villagers’ attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are the essential predictors of their adoption intention of the RSPV systems. Most notably, carbon neutrality was significantly affected by villagers’ adoption intention of RSPV systems as the renewable energy source in their homes.

The findings of this study provide that innovation attributes are important factors in shaping the adoption intentions of customers toward RSPV systems. This study is also the extent of previous studies measuring customers’ perception of adopting renewable energy in developed and emerging countries worldwide.

The purpose of this paper is to model and to improve the stability and long-lasting operation of the small home solar system configuration regarding the reliability, availability, sensitivity, cost analysis and mean time to failure (MTTF).

A model of a small home solar system is designed in this write up. It is designed in a series–parallel configuration, such that four panels are arranged in parallel, working under 1-out-of-4: G; policy and two batteries configured in parallel also, working under 1-out-of-2: G; policy. The panels are connected to a charge controller, then to the batteries and lastly to an inverter, all connected together in series configuration. Different types of system reliability such as reliability, sensitivity, availability, MTTF and cost analysis for particular values of the failure and repair rates have been evaluated by using a supplementary variable and Laplace transforms and demonstrated the computed results on tables and graphs. The main objective here is to improve the stability and long-lasting operation of the small solar system configuration regarding the reliability, availability, sensitivity, cost analysis and MTTF.

The future behavior of the small solar system and similar systems can be easily predicted at any given time for any parametric values, it is also better to provide repair than replacements in the system for better availability and reliability, it signifies that γp, γb, γc and γi are responsible for the better performance of the system, the variation of sensitivity together with the parametric values variations and lastly deduced that the profit will decrease whenever service cost increase.

This paper provides a model of small home solar system and its reliability analysis.

This study aims at conducting a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for solar home systems (SHSs) implementation in public housing projects.

This study is based on an SLR to identify the CSFs for SHS implementation in public housing. It reviewed published literature between 2000 and 2021. A summative content analysis approach is followed to analyze the qualitative content of published literature on CSFs for SHSs implementation in public housing.

The review outcomes identified a total of 44 CSFs, which are classified into six main fundamental categories, including political, financial, technical, social, marketing and environmental. The results indicated that government support is the most significant CSF for SHS implementation in public housing, followed by installation quality, maintenance and monitoring and effective policies and legal framework. The published literature mostly agrees that the CSFs are regionally specific, and stakeholders play an essential role in defining SHS programs’ indicators and success factors.

Lack of success and discontinuity of some SHS programs are deterring, especially for governments initiatives. Identifying CSFs associated with the success of some programs and understanding why other programs were less successful are essential requirements for improving the success of future projects. This study is intended to provide governments, policy-makers and program implementers with a list of the most significant CSFs for use when developing a success model to evaluate and measure the potential for investment in SHSs in the public housing sector.

Decentralized solar systems are increasingly being used as alternative source of off-grid electrification in Bangladesh. They offer solutions to provide (clean) electricity to the low-income households that are not currently served by the national grid. The standards of solar systems need to be improved to maximize the benefits they offer for off-grid electrification.

A quantitative research approach was used to explore the power output performance of six solar systems samples. In order to realize a proper load management, daily power production was measured to determine the generation capacity of 50, 60 and 100 Wp monocrystalline and polycrystalline modules when average solar irradiation was 916 W/m². In the testing system, the irradiation was measured by panel analyzer HT instrument I-V 400. The load arrangement comprised of different kinds of appliances (fan, light, TV). The daily consumption of energy by these loads was calculated using daily operational hours to determine system power performance.

The authors found that monocrystalline system performs better than polycrystalline by 0.39 kilowatt-hour (kWh) with capacity of 100 watt-peak (Wp) modules. The carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions reduction potential of our sample solar systems were also estimated by assuming a scenario. This was derived by using the electricity emission factor for natural gas (CH₄), since CH₄ is the main source of energy for power generation in Bangladesh. Savings in CO₂ of 0.52 kgCO₂/kWh is possible with the adoption of a 100 Wp monocrystalline module.

Government actions that promote the use of monocrystalline module will enhance the benefits of the use of solar systems in providing quality and sustainable electricity. This will contribute to government's efforts towards achieving some of the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDG) and resilience of the most vulnerable population to the effects and impacts of climate change.

Almost all solar modules found in off-grid areas are polycrystalline whose energy generation capacity is much lower compared to monocrystalline types. But use of low efficient polycrystalline solar module hindered the development of country's solar sector and option to save carbon emission. The use of highly efficient monocrystalline solar module will save also the country's land as the country has land scarcity challenges for establishing large-scale solar power plant. The authors also recommend actions that can be implemented at the national level to improve the attractiveness of monocrystalline solar systems in Bangladesh.

Social entrepreneurship, Sustainability and Human Resource.

The case study is relevant for students of entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. This case can be used as a case in strategy (growth strategy), marketing and innovation subjects as well.

The case study revolves around Mr Harish Hande and his efforts to build a for–profit social enterprise Solar Electric Light Company (SELCO) to provide electricity to poor and under–served. Harish focused on providing cheap, clean and sustainable energy sources to rural customers at bottom of the pyramid of the society. From the conception of SELCO, Harish has been on a roller–coaster ride of success and failure. Harish has used the problems as a learning ground and improved his business model successfully. But, when Harish tried to scale his operations in 2005–2006 he failed miserably. Some errors in the decision coupled with external pressure had brought SELCO to a verge of collapse. Owing to the determination of Harish and his team, SELCO was able to revive from the difficult times to generate profits again. Harish now again wants to expand but this time he would not take any chances. He wants to analyze and discuss every possible issue, he might face during his expansion plans.

The key learning aspects of this case is to understand importance and practice of talent management. The case also highlights the best practices that SELCO uses to reach its clients and provide them complete solution.

Teaching note.

The purpose of this research paper is to demonstrate that the success of technology transfer projects depends, among others, also on the projects' conformity with the institutional development in the concerned country.

The paper focuses on a study of two different user models of solar home systems in two different African countries with different institutional development, Zambia and Kenya. In the studied countries the solar home systems and thus home electricity are available to the users under different circumstances and terms. These circumstances and terms are closely connected to the functioning of the economic and judicial institutions in the mentioned countries.

The paper illustrates that, while the technology transfer project based on a “fee‐for‐service” solar home system was successful in Zambia, it would be unsuccessful in Kenya. And contrariwise, the technology transfer project based on a “market” solar home system was successful in Kenya, but would be unsuccessful in Zambia. The reasons for this difference are based on the different institutional development in the mentioned countries.

The paper illustrates that the success of a technology transfer project is dependent not only on emission reductions, but also on the accessibility of the project to the targeted user. The latter requirement, however, depends on how well the project takes into account which institutions are developed in a country and how well they function.

Recent research on the energy system highlights the need for understanding the bandwidth of drivers and inhibitors of household investor's behaviour in rooftop PV (or photovoltaic power system) and to fit the broader socio-economic context in which they are deployed. However, apart from few exceptions, these newer perspectives have not been duly applied in the research on rooftop PV. This paper aims to fill this gap and to shed new light on rooftop PV investment decisions.

This study has been conducted with the primary data collected using two data sets of 237 households and 387 households of Indian southern state Kerala using survey-based questionnaire. The findings from first data set revealed that households considering the adoption of PV were likely influenced by six distinct factors, three motivators and three inhibitors. Second data set for multi-state analytic approach was proposed whereby the research model was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). The outcomes of SEM were used as inputs for an artificial neural network (ANN) model for forecasting investor investment decision in in renewables. The ANN model was also used to rank the relative influence of significant predictors obtained from SEM.

In line with the risk–return framework, government subsidies act as primary motivator which helps in overcoming the initial risk of investment in the new technology. Further, low prices and low cost of maintenance are some of the financial motivators which may likely mitigate the long-term apprehension of returns and maintenance cost. Lastly, the strongest motivators of PV investment come from the environmental and financial motivator in the form of PV subsidies, which further solidifies the role of policy interventions in investment decision. The ANN model identified the technical barrier and knowledge and awareness factors play a significant role in forcasting the investor investing decision.

The study results will be useful for policymakers for framing strategies to attract and influence their investment in renewable energy.

Building upon behavioural finance and institutional theory, this paper posits that, in addition to a rational evaluation of the economics of the investment opportunities, various non-financial factors affect the household's decision to invest in renewables.

This study aims to conduct the domain mapping of consumer behaviour research in the context of solar energy. The study can help in understanding the intellectual structure, evolution of keywords and key research producers (at the author, institutional and source level) related to the domain of solar energy consumer research.

This study uses R-studios’ bibliometrix package for analysing the bibliographical data collected from the Scopus database. Analysis has been conducted at the descriptive level (summary, author, institution and source) and analytical level (co-citation analysis, co-occurrence analysis, thematic maps and historiography).

This study finds out the most relevant authors, institutions and sources using criteria such as production, citations and H-index. Relevant research clusters have been identified using the clustering of authors, co-citations and keywords. Thematic mapping has identified the basic and motor themes. Historical citation analysis shows the direct linkage of previous studies. Overall, this study reports the most relevant bibliometric indicators in the domain of solar energy consumer research.

Identified patterns can help policymakers, business experts, social marketers and energy conservation organisations to study consumer behaviour.

Thiis bibliometric study can effectively assess sustainable development goals and suggest improved action plans.

This study examined bibliometric analysis in solar energy products (SEPs), recognised varied domains of research work on consumers’ intention to purchase solar household products and mapped them into six groups. This study provides an overview of 40 years of research on consumer behaviour towards SEPs and discusses its findings to identify the research gap.

This study aims to focus on the nexus between off-grid systems and impacts on islands and remote villages in Ghana by investigating the sources and cost of energy, willingness to pay for electricity and impacts of off-grid energy on the local economy, education, health, social activities, the environment and migration.

Data were obtained from 110 households; heterogeneous impact analysis of off-grid technologies, average treatment effect by inverse probability weights (IPW) and inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) models were used to analyse the data.

The sources of energy are gas, kerosene, wood fuel and dry-cell battery. All households in communities with neither electricity nor off-grid system were willing to pay for electricity. Households without off-grid systems (US$8.1) were willing to pay higher amounts per month for electricity. The off-grid technologies improve the local economy, social activities, security, the environment, education and health as well as reduce out-migration.

Most of the literature on mini-grid/off-grid systems have been from the engineering and the technical perspective, with a few on the socioeconomic impacts of the systems and consumer engagements. Besides, methods including descriptive statistics, energy technology sustainability framework and qualitative analysis were used in these studies. Nevertheless, the authors used a more rigorous method of the doubly robust inverse probability weighted regression adjustment model and a heterogeneous method to model the impact analysis of off-grid systems.