Abstract

Low-income households in the United States experience a disproportionately high energy burden, which is the ratio of annual energy expenditures relative to annual total household income. The energy burden of these households is expected to increase as climate change continues to impact our communities. Opportunities such as the 2021 Solarize Asheville-Buncombe’s Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) program in North Carolina are attempting to alleviate rising energy burden through solar PV installations. In addition to the group-purchasing discount available through the Solarize campaign, the program provided full and partial grants to low-to-moderate (LMI) income households in Asheville for a 3.55 kW solar array. The goals of this research project were to quantify the costs and benefits of participation in the Solarize Asheville-Buncombe campaign for households, the extent to which energy burden was alleviated, participants’ attitudes toward the campaign, and why people may not have chosen to participate. A literature review of previous Solarize campaigns was completed. Cost-benefit analyses were conducted on four households: a fully granted N2N household, a partially granted N2N household who obtained financing, a non-N2N household who paid in full, and a non-N2N household who obtained financing. A survey was also conducted to evaluate participants’ attitude toward the effectiveness of the campaign. This project found that the energy burden of N2N households in Asheville was not alleviated to a greater extent than those not in the program largely because the installation size for N2N households was not maximized. Additionally, a 25 year payback period yielded the greatest amount of savings for households who obtained financing. Further research is recommended to determine the best solar array size, financing package, and household characteristics for N2N households in order to maximize the program’s funding in an attempt to alleviate LMI energy burden to the highest degree.

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