Economic perceptions linked to Kuwaiti household solar adoption intentions

A cross-sectional survey of 255 household respondents in Kuwait found that perceived economic benefit was associated with intentions to adopt residential solar energy mainly through how favorably households evaluated the technology and how feasible they believed adoption would be. The study, published in 2026 in Frontiers in Energy Research, used an extended Theory of Planned Behavior model and partial least squares structural equation modelling to examine six constructs: social awareness, perceived economic benefit, subjective norms, attitude, perceived behavioral control and behavioral intention. The model explained 56.6% of the variance in intention, but its global fit measures were weaker than conventional thresholds, and the authors cautioned that the cross-sectional results describe statistical associations rather than causal effects.

The findings emerged in a market where the usual household incentive for solar adoption is unusually weak. Kuwait receives approximately 2,500 to 3,000 hours of sunshine annually, with average daily solar radiation near 5.5 kWh/m²/day, yet residential photovoltaic uptake remains limited while electricity is heavily subsidized. Households consequently receive little immediate financial reward from reducing grid consumption through rooftop solar. In the survey, perceived economic benefit had significant direct associations with attitude, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms, with standardized path coefficients of 0.597, 0.581 and 0.552, respectively. Its direct path to behavioral intention, however, was not significant: β = 0.123, p = 0.114, with a bias-corrected and accelerated 95% confidence interval from −0.029 to 0.277.

Economic benefit was instead significantly associated with intention through two intermediary judgments. The indirect path through attitude had a coefficient of β = 0.241, with a 95% bias-corrected and accelerated confidence interval from 0.146 to 0.344. The path through perceived behavioral control had β = 0.179, with a 95% confidence interval from 0.076 to 0.295. The reported total effect of perceived economic benefit on intention was β = 0.575, with a 95% confidence interval from 0.446 to 0.685. That total combined the direct and indirect routes and was therefore not directly comparable with the individual direct coefficients. The authors suggest that households in Kuwait may be evaluating solar over a longer financial horizon, such as property value, protection against future tariff changes or independence from grid constraints, but the survey did not measure these motives directly. That interpretation remains a hypothesis for future research rather than a demonstrated mechanism.

The core Theory of Planned Behavior variables showed a distinct pattern. Attitude toward residential solar was positively associated with behavioral intention at β = 0.403, while perceived behavioral control was associated with intention at β = 0.308. Both paths were statistically significant, with p < 0.001 for attitude and p = 0.001 for perceived behavioral control, although their f² effect sizes were small under conventional benchmarks: 0.127 and 0.097, respectively. Subjective norms had a small and statistically nonsignificant direct association with intention, β = 0.059, p = 0.387. Social awareness likewise had no significant direct association with intention, β = −0.027, p = 0.577, although it was positively associated with attitude at β = 0.289 and reached intention indirectly through that route at β = 0.117, p < 0.001. The total effect of social awareness on intention was not significant, β = 0.077, p = 0.280.

This pattern does not establish that social influence is irrelevant in Kuwait, and several features of the study limit that interpretation. Residential solar adoption remains uncommon, so households may have few visible adopters from whom to form an adoption norm. The sample was recruited through voluntary online sharing and personal and professional networks, with no probability sampling frame or calculable response rate. It was also strongly skewed toward higher-income households: 72.2% reported income above 2,000 Kuwaiti dinars. The researchers note that this recruitment approach may have overrepresented people with above-average interest and awareness while including relatively few households for whom the upfront cost of solar may be most binding. The results therefore should not be generalized to all Kuwaiti households, and the indirect effects cannot establish the temporal sequence required for causal mediation.

The survey’s descriptive results illustrate a large gap between expressed interest and current use. Only 26 of 255 respondents, or 10.2%, reported already using solar energy, while 210 respondents, or 82.4%, said they were interested in adopting it in the future. Current users concentrated their use in low-demand, generally off-grid applications: 14 of the 26 used solar for lighting, four for charging mobile phones or devices, four to power appliances such as a refrigerator or television, two to reduce electricity bills and two for other purposes. The study therefore did not observe widespread grid-connected rooftop photovoltaic deployment. Because current use and future interest were recorded at one point in time, the difference between them is descriptive and does not show that stated intentions failed to translate into installations. It does show that interest in solar within this sample substantially exceeded reported use.

Among the 19 respondents who said they were not interested in adopting solar, the most frequently selected reason was satisfaction with existing energy solutions, reported by six respondents, or 31.6% of that subgroup. Five selected lack of availability and five selected insufficient information, each accounting for 26.3%. High initial cost was cited by three, or 15.8%, and two gave other reasons. Respondents could select more than one answer, so the 19 people selected 21 reasons in total and the percentages sum to more than 100%. Because the subgroup was small, the authors treat these proportions as descriptive rather than evidence that any particular barrier is more important in Kuwait’s wider population. The same caution applies to the broader adoption pattern: the study measured intention rather than completed installation and did not directly distinguish grid-connected photovoltaic systems from small off-grid products in every use question.

Technically, the research combined a six-construct measurement model with eleven direct and six indirect structural paths. All latent constructs were measured using five-point Likert-type items adapted from previously validated instruments and administered in Arabic and English. A pilot study was conducted before the main data collection, and internal consistency was strong: Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.771 to 0.924, corrected item–total correlations exceeded 0.20, and all composite reliability values were above 0.70. Average variance extracted values exceeded 0.50 for every construct, indicator variance inflation factors were below 5, with a maximum of 3.572, and both the Fornell–Larcker criterion and heterotrait–monotrait ratios supported discriminant validity. The researchers used 5,000 bootstrap resamples to estimate direct and indirect effects and bias-corrected and accelerated 95% confidence intervals. They also assessed predictive relevance with Q²predict and evaluated multicollinearity using inner variance inflation factors.

The model’s explanatory and predictive results were stronger than its global fit indices. In addition to the 56.6% of variance explained in behavioral intention, the structural model explained 62.1% of variance in attitude, 32.7% in perceived behavioral control and 24.9% in subjective norms. All reported Q²predict values were positive, ranging from 0.227 to 0.608, while inner variance inflation factors ranged from 1.377 to 2.961, indicating no structural collinearity concern. However, the estimated model’s standardized root mean square residual was 0.116, above the conventional 0.08 threshold, and its normed fit index was 0.755, below 0.90. Most of the discrepancy was already present in the saturated model, whose standardized root mean square residual was 0.100, indicating that much of it originated in the measurement model rather than the structural paths. The authors say interpretation should rely principally on the path estimates, explanatory power, predictive relevance, effect sizes and bootstrap results, while treating the weaker fit indices as a limitation.

Because permitting procedures and installer availability were not measured, the study does not establish that either factor causes lower adoption. The authors nevertheless identify them as plausible targets for future testing, alongside dust and humidity-related soiling that has been linked to reduced photovoltaic output in Kuwait. They also suggest that future research should pair surveys with permit applications, utility data and metered generation, distinguish grid-connected systems from small off-grid products, and follow households longitudinally from intention formation through installation. Probability-based samples stratified by income and governorate would be needed to determine whether the observed pattern persists among less affluent households. For now, the evidence supports a focused conclusion: in this nonrepresentative sample, perceived economic benefit was associated with Kuwaiti household solar intentions chiefly through evaluative and control judgments, while social awareness operated through attitude and direct social influence remained weak.

Subject of Research: Behavioral determinants of residential solar adoption intention among Kuwaiti household respondents

Article Title: Solar adoption intention in a subsidized energy market: perceived economic benefit and behavioral control in Kuwaiti households

Article References: Albaho, A. S., Alansari, A. E., & Alsaber, A. R. (2026). Solar adoption intention in a subsidized energy market: perceived economic benefit and behavioral control in Kuwaiti households. Frontiers in Energy Research, 14, Article 1972801. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2026.1972801

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fenrg.2026.1972801

Keywords: Kuwait, residential solar, adoption intention, perceived economic benefit, perceived behavioral control, Theory of Planned Behavior, PLS-SEM, electricity subsidies, social awareness, household energy, Solar, adoption