Social acceptance study for solar energy adoption in Yemeni household under compelling circumstances

Abstract

Renewable energy is a free and clean source of power, which makes it the best solution for the energy problems worldwide, Yemen included. During the compelling circumstances of civil conflict in Yemen, the public electricity grid fails to deliver any electricity to the conflict areas. This makes the householders search for alternative sources of power. The lack of researches studying the compelling circumstances effects on the intentions of installing solar systems at households poses a literature gap that needs to be bridged. This research focuses mainly on the social factors that can affect the decision taken by the householders. Level of knowledge, environmental concerns, the purchasing power, the satisfaction level and other subjective norms have been studied using a model built based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and analyzed by SmartPLS 3 computer program. The three hypotheses of this research propose a positive effect of attitude (H1), perceived behavioral control (H2), subjective norms (H3) on the intention of the Yemeni householders towards the adoption of the solar PV. All hypotheses proved to be correct with positive effect on such intention. However, the subjective norms show no effect after the compelling circumstances are over. Environmental concerns and users level of autarky are major factors that influence positively the decision to adopt the solar PV. Initial cost has shown a negative effect on the decision of using solar PV in the low income households. Recommendations have been drawn to encourage the householders to use the renewable resources to overcome the energy shortage during and after compelling circumstances. Those recommendations are addressed to government, private sectors, NGO’s, and public. Using solar PV at household level is a key solution to the energy problems in Yemen.