However, in emerging economies, the implementation of solar energy is often hindered by several barriers. These barriers present significant challenges for policymakers in achieving comprehensive energy sustainability.
and-effect relationships between the barriers to implementing solar energy. An interesting finding from the results is that the most prominent barrier and the most causal barrier are not always the same. This highlights that a barrier may be important, but may not necessarily be the root cause of other barriers.
An extensive range of literature in the broader field of renewable energy has identified five main types of barriers that limit site suitability, economic viability, and social acceptance of large-scale deployment of the solar option (see for example , ).
Investment challenges and concerns are a major barrier to solar energy adoption globally and regionally due to longer payback periods and higher investment costs compared to traditional energy sources.
Seventeen overarching barriers, grouped into four broad categories: social, technical, economic, and political, were identified as barriers to the uptake of solar energy (Fig. 5). For simplicity and ease of identification, these barriers were coded using the relation in Eq. (1): Barrier code = BX #
It is important to note that potential solar adopters across the three sectors presented many convergent and divergent perspectives on barriers to rooftop solar. Three main observations are important: High upfront costs and long payback period were perceived by the interviewees as major barriers to solar PV deployment.