CHARACTERIZING POTENTIAL SOLAR ENTHUSIASTS: AN ONTARIO (CANADA) CASE-STUDY

摘要

With electricity industry restructuring and growing air quality concerns in many locations around the world, the prospects for solar power appear to unprecedently high. The purpose of this paper is to characterize 'solar enthusiasts' ―that is, individuals who are interested in solar power in some way. Drawing upon survey results from Waterloo Region, Ontario (Canada), it appears that those who believe in the certainty of human-induced climate change, those who are younger, those who live in a household in which someone has more formal education and those who have greater knowledge of the causes of climate change are more likely to be solar enthusiasts. Although comparisons with the broader literature suggests that the solar enthusiast shares some characteristics with the 'green power consumers', interesting differences also exist.