Solar Panels and Political Attitudes
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211044868 |
| Published date | 01 August 2022 |
| Date | 01 August 2022 |
| Subject Matter | The Null Hypothesis |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211044868
Political Studies Review
2022, Vol. 20(3) 525 –533
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/14789299211044868
journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev
Solar Panels and Political
Attitudes
Resul Umit
Abstract
In the fight against climate change, renewable energy has been subsidised in many countries. With
the costs passed onto consumers, governments are paying those, for example, who instal domestic
solar panels on top of their homes and feed electricity back into the system at preferential rates.
We know that substantial amounts of income flow into households with solar installations as a
result, but we do not know much about the political consequences of these programmes. Similar
government programmes are known to have resource and interpretative effects on participants,
leading to changes in their attitudes. Drawing on three longitudinal surveys from Germany, United
Kingdom, and Switzerland, this article analyses whether installation of these solar panels causes
meaningful changes in households’ various political attitudes. Using fixed-effect models as the
identification strategy, the article reports null results – solar installations do not seem to generate
political attitudes. This is good as well as bad news for actors looking to increase the amount of
renewable energy produced through solar installations.
Keywords
policy feedback, political attitudes, climate policy
Accepted: 19 August 2021
Introduction
Policies to fight climate change have created a new kind of energy producer – households
with solar installations on their roof. In addition to the subsidies available for households
to instal solar panels, in many countries, they can also feed electricity back into the sys-
tem at preferential rates. With the the costs passed onto the energy consumers, solar
installations are essentially redistributive mechanisms. Indeed, evidence shows that sub-
stantial amounts of income flow into households with solar installations (Winter and
Schlesewsky, 2019).
This article analyses whether individuals develop distinct political attitudes as a result
of living in households with solar panels over time. Political scientists have long been
interested in policy feedback – how the policies of today might affect the politics of
ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Corresponding author:
Resul Umit, ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Gaustadalleen 30A, 0373 Oslo,
Norway.
Email: resuluy@uio.no
1044868PSW0010.1177/14789299211044868Political Studies ReviewUmit
research-article2021
The Null Hypothesis
To continue reading
Request your trial