Socio-economic factors influencing adoption of solar energy technologies: a case of households in Narok County
Date
2023
Authors
Agandi, V. O.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
The energy sector in Kenya contributes significantly to the country's economic development by creating employment opportunities and raising people's living standards. However, there is slow adoption of renewable energy, especially solar energy in the country due to various socioeconomic challenges, which is now a major concern to the government because if this remains unchecked, it may derail the country in achieving vision 2030 and other development goals. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine the influence of socioeconomic factors (household income, education of household head, dwelling characteristics, and household demographic characteristics) influencing adoption of solar energy in Narok County. The specific objectives of the study include: to evaluate the influence of household income, education of household head, household dwelling characteristics, and household demographic characteristics on the adoption of solar energy technologies in Narok County. The study is anchored on Technology Acceptance Model, the Unified Theory of Adoption and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and the Energy Ladder & Stacking hypothesis. Descriptive research design was adopted with a target population of households in Narok County. Random sampling was applied in this study where 400 respondents were proportionally distributed across the 6 counties respondents randomly selected to participate in this study. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect the primary data. The data was analyzed into both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive research design was used to determine socio economic factors that influence adoption of solar energy. Regression analysis was also used to identify which factors played a significant role in explaining adoption of solar energy technology in Narok County. The study findings show that there was significant positive correlation between all the socioeconomic factors of household income, education of household head, household dwelling characteristics and household demographics characteristics and the adoption of solar energy technology adoption in Narok County. The findings play a great role in not only extending frontiers of knowledge in green energy strategic business management and regulations research, but also in informing key players in making sound solar energy technology business environment decisions for better green energy adoption.
Description
Full- text thesis
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Citation
Agandi, V. O. (2023). Socio-economic factors influencing adoption of solar energy technologies: A case of households in Narok County [Strathmore University]. http://hdl.handle.net/11071/13362