Internet and renewable energy adoption nexus in Ghana: Impacts and implications for sustainable development

• The association between renewable energy adoption and Internet us is explored. • The use of the Internet can improve renewable energy adoption. • Internet use impact on renewable energy adoption can be homogenous and heterogeneous. • Policymakers can help enhance renewable energy development in developing country like Ghana. The relationship between Internet use and renewable energy (RE) technology installation is investigated, using a sample size of 413 from the regions in Ghana. To minimize the possibility of sampling bias in this cross-sectional analysis, we use the two-stage residual inclusion (2SRI) technique to factor in observed and unobserved attributes of the participants. The findings suggest that peer influence, male gender, higher education, and access to financial services are associated with Internet use. Importantly, Internet use increases the likelihood of RE adoption by 17.1 %. These findings imply that the expansion of Internet connectivity, which can improve household information accessibility and socioeconomic status, is critical to achieving Ghana’s RE policy objectives.