Behavioral drivers and barriers to community solar adoption in the United States: a mixed-methods study

Abstract Community solar offers a critical pathway to equitable clean-energy access, especially for low-income households. Our mixed-methods study integrates two cross-sectional US surveys (national: n = 1,528 in 2023; n = 1,795 in 2024; Boston: n = 1,014 in 2023; n = 1,015 in 2024) to track year-over-year patterns with qualitative interviews across multiple locations to assess behavioral determinants and policy-shaped barriers. While social expectations for community solar increased and normative beliefs remained strong, this growing awareness failed to translate into higher adoption: nationally, self-efficacy declined (from 32.3% to 27%, p < 0.05) and perceived personal benefits remained flat even as social expectations increased; in Boston, self-efficacy remained stable and perceived personal benefits rose (from 42.8% to 48.2%, p < 0.05), yet consideration and adoption stayed low in both contexts, revealing a critical awareness-to-action gap. Interviews surface persistent, program-level frictions: knowledge gaps about how community solar works, enrollment complexity, concerns about service reliability, and trust deficits. This work contributes novel, policy-relevant evidence that incentives are necessary but insufficient without targeted, behavioral and structural fixes. Simplifying enrollment, making savings transparent and guaranteed, and leveraging trusted community messengers and social proof are actionable levers that can boost self-efficacy to translate interest into sign-ups. Taken together, the results identify where programs and policymakers can intervene to deliver more equitable, higher-uptake community solar.