Analysis of Solar Energy Technology acceptance in Rural Areas (Case Study: Rural areas of the Kaleybar and Khodaafarin township - East Azarbaijan Province)

Today, the use of clean and renewable energy in rural areas to provide sustainable energy is a prerequisite for sustainable development. The endless of fossil fuels and their constraints in providing energy and environmental damage caused by the use of fossil fuels, necessitates the use and development of renewable energy applications, in particular solar energy utilization as a The source of sustainable energy and free of environmental pollution. The necessity of using these resources due to the depletion of conventional energy resources and the limitation of fossil resources, the negative environmental impacts of the use of hydrocarbon resources, rising prices of fossil fuels, political conflicts and its impact on the provision of sustainable energy and environmental issues related to some of the reasons. The use of solar energy, as one of the forms of renewable energy in rural areas, requires acceptance by residents of rural areas. The present paper is also based on the hypothesis that "solar energy technology (solar panel) has low acceptance among villagers". With the aim of analyzing the level of acceptance of this kind of energy among the villagers, this way the villagers' attitude toward it is determined. This paper seeks to analyze the level of acceptance of the solar panel technology by the villagers (consumers) and to measure the attitudes of the villagers towards the solar energy technology.

With respect to the components studied and nature of subject, this research is carried out by a descriptive – analytical method. Reviewing the concepts and principles of related issue, required data was collected by using library and field survey (questionnaire). In this study, 27 villages from Kaleybar and Khodaafarin Township in East Azarbaijan province were selected as the statistical population. Five villages with solar panels (Qalehloo, Ilanhekesh, Hormaghan Sufla, MusaKandy and Hasanbigloo) and 22 villages without solar panels are selected as research case study. The research unit of this study is household superintendents with 60 households in 5 villages with solar panels as a unit of analysis. In non-panel villages, 256 households were selected through Cochran's sampling method. In total, 316 household heads were selected as the sample population. Collected data were analyzed by sample t-test.

Statistical findings indicate that in the villages of the solar panel, the level of acceptance in the three dimensional dimensions of sustainable development including the economic, social and environmental dimensions of solar energy technology is below the average and is equal to 2.01. However, this amount is higher than the average, and its rate in the three dimensions of environmental, social and economic is 4.28, 4.14 and 4.12, respectively. The attitude toward solar panels technology is positive in villages without solar panel technology.Based on the results of the findings of this article, one of the main challenges facing sustainable development in rural communities is energy and environmental issues. Today, environmental protection and energy shortage issues and the use of renewable energy technologies (such as solar energy) are being increasingly addressed by many people around the world. This issue has also been recognized and recognized by the majority of people in developed and developing countries. This is more important for villages that are far away from the global electricity grid. On the other hand, many rural areas of the country due to limitations such as high altitude, gravity and poor weather conditions, and the remoteness of energy resources, the possibility of electricity to provide the necessary energy for those areas, often away from the bronze roads, Either not available or economically feasible. Hence, rural-scale solar panel technology can be a suitable option for addressing the problems of sustainable rural energy supply due to its simplicity and low cost, and is an effective step towards sustainable rural development. Photovoltaic systems among other solar systems, in addition to the ease of use and usefulness after installation, also have the lowest maintenance costs. Meanwhile, the replacement of traditional and fossil sources with the use of renewable technologies by the rural community requires the introduction, publication, and ultimately change of attitude and acceptance between the target community. If solar technology is to be addressed as an innovation, the dissemination of those requirements will include increasing the knowledge and knowledge of villagers about the benefits of using new energies against the flaws of fossil fuels and providing appropriate funding. Hence, education and continuity in knowledge, knowledge and knowledge, and continuous use of knowledge of the day about how the management and development of the use of new energies by the rural community can affect the adoption of modern renewable energy technologies, especially solar energy technology. Ultimately, the dissemination and diffusion of energy efficient renewable energy and its application by villagers requires that technology and policy makers, in addition to considering and adopting appropriate technology with the rural environment, must change the attitude of the villagers and also new environmental changes in To consider

The diffusion of the solar technology as an innovation, requires increasing the knowledge and awareness of villagers about the benefits of using renewable energies and providing appropriate funding. However, education and continuity in knowledge, awareness the use of new energies by the rural community can affect attitude toward the adoption of modern renewable energy technologies, especially solar energy technology.In addition, by examining the results of the findings and comparing them with studies carried out in this field, we can say that the results of this paper are compared with the work of Yang Feng (2012), Shellley (2014), M. Oder et al. (2015) in Uganda, Lutra et al. (2015), because the researchers also concluded in their study that public awareness and understanding of renewable energy and solar power Also, informing the villagers plays an essential role in changing the attitudes of the villagers and accepting solar energy on their behalf. But Veronique Vasser and Rene Camp (2015) in their study in Holland have identified the economic factors and cost of solar cells as a factor in the lack of acceptance of solar energy by the villagers.