Solar water heating provides domestic hot water with lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to more typical natural-gas water heating. Solar water heating has a long history, particularly in places where the climate is favorable, such as California where state-backed incentive programs have been successful in creating small bursts of adoption. However, widespread adoption of solar water heating has not occurred in California despite these conditions. This research surveyed 227 single-family households with solar water heating across the state of California to understand their motivations and experiences, and draw implications regarding barriers to adoption. The survey explored households’ experiences across five stages of adoption, as outlined in Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theory: Knowledge, Persuasion, Decision, Implementation, and Confirmation. Findings revealed challenges at each stage. Most notably, prevalent disappointment in lower-than-expected energy and bill savings (31%) and high rates of technical problems (41%) appear to be the most significant issues.

与更典型的天然气热水相比，太阳能热水为家庭热水提供了更低的温室气体排放。太阳能热水器历史悠久，尤其是在气候适宜的地方，例如加利福尼亚州，加利福尼亚州政府支持的奖励计划已成功地实现了小规模的普及。但是，尽管有这些条件，加利福尼亚州仍未广泛采用太阳能热水。这项研究调查了加利福尼亚州的227个有太阳能热水的单户家庭，以了解他们的动机和经验，并得出有关采用障碍的含义。如罗杰斯（Rogers）的“创新扩散理论”中概述的那样，该调查调查了家庭在五个采用阶段的经验：知识，说服力，决策，实施，和确认。调查结果揭示了每个阶段的挑战。最值得注意的是，最令人担忧的问题是普遍低于预期的能源和账单节省（31％）以及高技术问题率（41％）。