Impacto del conocimiento ambiental y beneficios percibidos en actitudes hacia la energía solar

The adoption of renewable energies is a concern in several countries, so we seek to identify the factors that influence the decision to purchase them, especially solar energy, which is accessible. In response to this, several studies have been conducted in developed countries, but in Mexico they are scarce. This study presents a structural equation model that integrates three latent variables, environmental knowledge as an independent variable, perceived benefits as a moderating variable and environmental intention as a dependent variable, which are related by three hypotheses. The hypotheses are validated with information from 511 responses to a questionnaire applied in Mexico and using the partial least squares approach integrated in the WarpPLS v.8 software with a confidence level of 95%. The results indicate that environmental knowledge about renewable energies is the basis for users to perceive the benefits they can obtain from their implementation, since this facilitates them to increase their investment intention. This is important, since the relationship of environmental knowledge with intentions through direct effects is lower than indirect effects when perceived benefits are the mediating variable.