Low-income solar adopters are more likely to refer others to a fully subsidized solar programme when referral rewards are combined with an appeal to reciprocity and a simplified referral process, leading to five times as many solar contracts as when referral rewards are used alone. The findings highlight behavioural science strategies that administrators of low-income energy assistance programmes can use to cost-effectively accelerate programme uptake.
Recommendations for policy
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Relying on financial rewards alone to encourage referrals for a low-income solar programme leaves many peer referrals — and subsequently solar installations — unrealized.
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Complementing referral rewards with programme simplification and an appeal to reciprocity can increase the number of referrals and resulting solar contracts by several-fold, at less cost per contract.
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Combining referral rewards, reciprocity, and programme simplification is more effective at attracting first-time referrers than either rewards alone or rewards combined with reciprocity.
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Reciprocity and simplification have trade-offs in terms of the timing, quality, and relative cost of the referrals generated, giving administrators flexibility depending on their programme objectives.
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Further reading
Carley, S. & Konisky, D. M. The justice and equity implications of the clean energy transition. Nat. Energy 5, 569–577 (2020). This work reviews the potential consequences of the clean energy transition for disadvantaged groups.
Darghouth, N. R., O’Shaughnessy, E., Forrester, S. & Barbose, G. Characterizing local rooftop solar adoption inequity in the US. Environ. Res. Lett. 17, 034028 (2022). This study examines patterns of inequity in U.S. rooftop solar adoption.
Fowlie, M., Greenstone, M. & Wolfram, C. Are the non-monetary costs of energy efficiency investments large? Understanding low take-up of a free energy efficiency program. Am. Econ. Rev. 105, 201–204 (2015). This work demonstrates that low-income households often forgo opportunities to invest in energy efficiency even when they require no out-of-pocket costs.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the US Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 (K.S.W and E.T.). Funding was provided by the US Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technology Office. This brief was also authored by an employee of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 with the US Department of Energy (A.T.B.). The views expressed in this policy brief do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the US Government. The US Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes.
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Wolske, K.S., Todd-Blick, A. & Tome, E. Behaviourally-informed peer referral programmes can increase the reach of low-income energy policies. Nat Energy 8, 787–788 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01323-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01323-7
