What it takes for homeowners to install rooftop solar

What is shaping energy

The energy transition brings rooftop solar, clean cooking, EV charging and efficient appliances to homes and businesses. Adoption depends on cost, trust, financing and after-sales support.

• Rooftop solar adoption depends on financing and installer trust
• Clean cooking programmes need sustained use, not just connections
• Businesses are setting their own transition targets

A rooftop solar company, working in Gujarat, Rajasthan & Karnataka. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A rooftop solar company

Sector

Energy

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Consumer panel, Quantitative research, Qualitative research

Government subsidies had made rooftop solar more affordable, yet many homeowners who requested quotes never went ahead. The company wanted to understand where prospects dropped out and what would help them decide.

• Answer the core question: what it takes for homeowners to install rooftop solar.
• Understand the views, needs and behaviour of homeowners.
• Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 8 weeks.

The work focused on 2,000 homeowners.

• homeowners2,000

Audiences we typically reach in energy

HouseholdsSmall businessesInstallers and channel partnersProgramme beneficiariesEnergy managers

Coverage: Gujarat, Rajasthan & Karnataka. Market: India.

• India

A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Homeowner survey
3. 3Interviews with recent adopters and drop-outs
4. 4Insight

We surveyed independent homeowners about electricity bills, awareness of subsidies, concerns about installation and expectations of savings. We also interviewed recent adopters and people who had dropped out after receiving quotes, asking them to describe the process step by step, including subsidy paperwork and approval delays.

Consumer panelQuantitative researchQualitative research

homeowners

2,000

• Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
• Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

interviews

36

• The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.

• Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
• Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
• Review of open-ended answers
• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
• Significance testing on the differences that mattered
• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• Prospects were put off by complicated subsidy paperwork and uncertainty about how long approvals would take, more than by cost.

Removing paperwork anxiety converted more prospects than lowering prices.

• The company introduced end-to-end subsidy handling with clear timelines, a savings calculator based on actual bills and testimonials from neighbours who had installed systems.
• Share the findings with the teams closest to customers so they can act quickly.

What we recommended, and the client put into practice

• Conversion from quote to installation improved in the following quarters.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables
• Interview summaries and key verbatims

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: what holds back rooftop solar?