Working Paper

Peer-to-Peer Solar and Social Rewards: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Stefano Carattini, Kenneth Gillingham, Xiangyu Meng, Erez Yoeli
CESifo, Munich, 2022

CESifo Working Paper No. 10173

Observability has been demonstrated to influence the adoption of pro-social behavior in a variety of contexts. This study implements a field experiment to examine the influence of observability in the context of a novel pro-social behavior: peer-to-peer solar. Peer-to-peer solar offers an opportunity to households who cannot have solar on their homes to access solar energy from their neighbors. However, unlike solar installations, peer-to-peer solar is an invisible form of pro-environmental behavior. We implemented a set of randomized campaigns using Facebook ads in the Massachusetts cities of Cambridge and Somerville, in partnership with a peer-to-peer company. In the campaigns, treated customers were informed that they could share “green reports” online, providing information to others about their greenness. We find that interest in peer-to-peer solar increases by up to 30% when “green reports,” which would make otherwise invisible behavior visible, are mentioned in the ads.

CESifo Category
Energy and Climate Economics
Behavioural Economics
Keywords: peer to peer solar, pro-environmental behavior, social rewards, visibility, Facebook
JEL Classification: C930, D910, Q200