Enhancing Citizens’ Participation in PV Deployment

The actual climate emergency generated by global warming requires a strong civic participation to find a sustainable solution to overcome this critical time. Vital targets in climate change mitigation, such as the Paris Agreement to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, can be achieved only with a drastic reduction in CO2 emissions, otherwise, with the actual trend, we will reach the limit of 1.5 °C in January 20341. Solar energy is considered by IPCC2 as the best option to reduce emissions and mitigate global warming. The role of citizens in accepting and adopting PV technologies is therefore a crucial part of the widespread use of PV. Having in mind the urgency of providing guidance in this relevant aspect of PV deployment, in November 2023 the Social PV Working Group of the European Technology and Innovation Platform Photovoltaics (ETIP PV) has published the White Paper “Towards Sustainable and Massive Deployment of Photovoltaics: The Nexus of Socio-Economic and Technological Challenges”3. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the White Paper focusing on the strategies to enhance the citizens ‘participation in the deployment of PV technologies.