A socially aware incentive strategy for encouraging residential solar uptake in Brunei

Abstract

This paper proposes an economic incentive strategy for encouraging the installation of solar photovoltaic cells amongst residential consumers in Brunei. Prior literature analyses several options in different geographical contexts, all of which focus on subsidising the effective prorated cost of energy from solar resources. It has also been noted that social effects such as the influence of neighbours and economic status can have a significant effect on the spatio-Temporal rate of solar uptake. In this work, we estimate the impact of these factors using a model trained on an empirical data set. Subsequently, we develop a versatile policy architecture for the country of Brunei, based on (i) geographical location within the country, (ii) sociological meta data of residents, and (iii) the economic characteristics and drivers that are unique to Brunei. These characteristics, which include an abundance of fossil fuel reserves, subsidised energy costs, and the need to balance economic and social objectives, impart intriguing properties to the incentive structure.