Residential User Technical Knowledge and Misconceptions About Solar PV in Michigan

With declining photovoltaic (PV) prices and rising electricity rates, residential PV adoption has grown rapidly. Nevertheless, misconceptions persist regarding PV performance, toxicity and cost benefit that might affect adoption, in particular in regions where solar interest is more recent. For example in Michigan, many might believe that solar is a bad option due to cloudiness and snowfall during winter. Recent news coverage has also heightened public concern about metal release and toxicity. In this work, we analyze key concerns and misconceptions of residential consumers in Michigan to identify the main gaps in PV understanding and guide future training and education campaigns. Not addressing the main concerns risks making these efforts inefficient and failing to improve residential PV adoption. In this study, we interview solar installers in Michigan to understand the technical questions, misconceptions, concerns, and common beliefs of potential residential PV users. Some top misconceptions involve the need for very large solar system to offset the full electricity consumption and completely power the users' houses during power outages. Similar to the top concerns, these misconceptions mostly relate to the financials and energy production of PV systems. While toxicity is a main concern from utility scale project, this study found minimal concerns regarding PV toxicity, and only from rural clients. These findings highlight the need to shift future education and training priorities to address misconceptions, enhance technical knowledge, and emphasize the long-term benefits of solar energy systems.