A Social Study of the Possibilities of Transitioning from Conventional Fuels to Renewables among Iranian Villagers (Case Study: Solar Panels)

Iran, as a country that heavily depends on conventional fossil fuels, is obliged to change it in favor of renewable resources. Renewable technology acceptance has not received sufficient heed from Iranian household consumers. This research seeks to address the question of what factors determine households’ incline towards solar panel technology for domestic usage in the Iranian context. To achieve the goal of the study a qualitative survey designed and an integrated theoretical model based on the modified framework of the Technology Acceptance Model, Social Acceptance theory and Diffusion of Innovation theory was developed. Data collected from 462 inhabitants of Mazandaran in 2019, who had not installed solar panels at research time. The internal reliabilities of the final measurement were all above 0.68 and validity coefficients for the constructs of the study were all above 0.56. Based on standardized regression weights the strongest total effect on the main dependent variable of intention acceptance (36%) is related to the perceived easiness of use and overall, the model explains 19% of the variances of the dependent variable.