The Experts below are selected from a list of 324 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Eric O'shaughnessy - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Rules of the rooftop: Platform design and price reductions in an online solar photovoltaic marketplace in the United States
Energy Research and Social Science, 2019Co-Authors: Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Kunal Punjabi, Eric O'shaughnessy, Robert MargolisAbstract:Residential solar photovoltaic (PV) customers typically obtain price quotes directly from Installers, a process with high consumer search costs that enable price dispersion and can discourage adoption. Recently, however, customers are increasingly shopping for PV using third-party online platforms that make it easier to obtain and compare quotes from multiple Installers. While early evidence indicates that these platforms make the PV market more transparent and lower prices, the literature suggests that market outcomes are critically linked to detailed aspects of platform design. In this study, we econometrically analyze a unique dataset of quotes offered in the online PV marketplace EnergySage to investigate how four changes to the platform design have influenced quote prices and transaction prices. We find that the largest reductions in quote prices ($0.11/ W) and transaction prices ($0.15/W) were associated with the introduction of a price guidance information feature for Installers. While educating and informing customers has repeatedly emerged as a policy priority for bolstering PV markets, these results suggest that the same should be true on the supply side. We also find that customers are willing to pay higher transaction prices for systems with higher-quality panels, dispelling concerns that online PV marketplaces lead to a “race to the bottom” phenomenon by emphasizing price at the expense of quality.
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The geography of solar energy in the United States: Market definition, industry structure, and choice in solar PV adoption
Energy Research and Social Science, 2018Co-Authors: Eric O'shaughnessy, Gregory F. Nemet, Naim DarghouthAbstract:The solar photovoltaic (PV) installation industry comprises thousands of firms around the world who collectively installed nearly 200 million panels in 2015. Spatial analysis of the emerging industry has received considerable attention from the literature, especially on the demand side concerning peer effects and adopter clustering. However this research area does not include similarly sophisticated spatial analysis on the supply side of the installation industry. The lack of understanding of the spatial structure of the PV installation industry leaves PV market research to rely on jurisdictional lines, such as counties, to define geographic PV markets. We develop an approach that uses the spatial distribution of Installers’ activity to define geographic boundaries for PV markets. Our method is useful for PV market research and applicable in the contexts of other industries. We use our approach to demonstrate that the PV industry in the United States is spatially heterogeneous. Despite the emergence of some national-scale PV Installers, Installers are largely local and installer communities are unique from one region to the next. The social implications of the spatial heterogeneity of the emerging PV industry involve improving understanding of issues such as market power, industry consolidation, and how much choice potential adopters have.
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Effects of Platform Design on the Customer Experience in an Online Solar PV Marketplace
National Renewable Energy Laboratory Technical Report, 2018Co-Authors: Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Kunal Punjabi, Eric O'shaughnessy, Robert MargolisAbstract:We analyze a unique dataset of residential solar PV quotes offered in an online marketplace to understand how platform design changes affect customer outcomes. Three of the four design changes are associated with statistically significant and robust reductions in offer prices, though none of the policies were designed explicitly to reduce prices. The results suggest that even small changes in how prospective solar PV customers interact with Installers can affect customer outcomes such as prices. Specifically, the four changes we evaluate are: 1) a customer map that shows potential new EnergySage registrants the locations of nearby customers; 2) a quote cap that precludes more than seven Installers from bidding on any one customer; 3) a price guidance feature that informs Installers about competitive prices in the customer's market before they submit quotes; and 4) no pre-quote messaging to prohibit Installers from contacting customers prior to offering quotes. We calculate descriptive statistics to investigate whether each design change accomplished its specific objectives. Then, we econometrically evaluate the impacts of the design changes on PV quote prices and purchase prices using a regression discontinuity approach.
Robert Margolis - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Rules of the rooftop: Platform design and price reductions in an online solar photovoltaic marketplace in the United States
Energy Research and Social Science, 2019Co-Authors: Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Kunal Punjabi, Eric O'shaughnessy, Robert MargolisAbstract:Residential solar photovoltaic (PV) customers typically obtain price quotes directly from Installers, a process with high consumer search costs that enable price dispersion and can discourage adoption. Recently, however, customers are increasingly shopping for PV using third-party online platforms that make it easier to obtain and compare quotes from multiple Installers. While early evidence indicates that these platforms make the PV market more transparent and lower prices, the literature suggests that market outcomes are critically linked to detailed aspects of platform design. In this study, we econometrically analyze a unique dataset of quotes offered in the online PV marketplace EnergySage to investigate how four changes to the platform design have influenced quote prices and transaction prices. We find that the largest reductions in quote prices ($0.11/ W) and transaction prices ($0.15/W) were associated with the introduction of a price guidance information feature for Installers. While educating and informing customers has repeatedly emerged as a policy priority for bolstering PV markets, these results suggest that the same should be true on the supply side. We also find that customers are willing to pay higher transaction prices for systems with higher-quality panels, dispelling concerns that online PV marketplaces lead to a “race to the bottom” phenomenon by emphasizing price at the expense of quality.
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Effects of Platform Design on the Customer Experience in an Online Solar PV Marketplace
National Renewable Energy Laboratory Technical Report, 2018Co-Authors: Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Kunal Punjabi, Eric O'shaughnessy, Robert MargolisAbstract:We analyze a unique dataset of residential solar PV quotes offered in an online marketplace to understand how platform design changes affect customer outcomes. Three of the four design changes are associated with statistically significant and robust reductions in offer prices, though none of the policies were designed explicitly to reduce prices. The results suggest that even small changes in how prospective solar PV customers interact with Installers can affect customer outcomes such as prices. Specifically, the four changes we evaluate are: 1) a customer map that shows potential new EnergySage registrants the locations of nearby customers; 2) a quote cap that precludes more than seven Installers from bidding on any one customer; 3) a price guidance feature that informs Installers about competitive prices in the customer's market before they submit quotes; and 4) no pre-quote messaging to prohibit Installers from contacting customers prior to offering quotes. We calculate descriptive statistics to investigate whether each design change accomplished its specific objectives. Then, we econometrically evaluate the impacts of the design changes on PV quote prices and purchase prices using a regression discontinuity approach.
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Quantifying non-hardware balance of system costs for photovoltaic installations in the United States using a combined annual expenditure-labor hour productivity approach
2012 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2012Co-Authors: Kristen Ardani, Robert Margolis, Galen Barbose, David FeldmanAbstract:This paper presents results from the first U.S. based data collection effort to quantify non-hardware, business process costs for PV systems at the residential and commercial scales, using a bottom-up approach. Annual expenditure and labor hour productivity data are analyzed to benchmark business process costs in the specific areas of: (1) customer acquisition; (2) permitting, inspection, and interconnection; (3) installer labor costs associated with third party financing; and (4) installation labor. Annual cost and labor hour data were collected from 87 Installers. After eliminating outliers, the survey sample consists of 75 Installers, representing approximately 13% and 4% of 2010 added PV installations at the residential and commercial scales, respectively. Results indicate that business process costs benchmarked in this analysis (including assumed permitting fees) total $1.52/W1 for residential systems (ranging from $0.66/W to $1.66/W between the 20th and 80th percentiles). For commercial systems, the survey results suggest business process costs of $0.99/W for systems ;250 kW (ranging from $0.17/W to $0.78/W between the 20th and 80th percentiles)2. We conclude that business process costs present significant opportunities for cost reductions.
Benjamin D. Leibowicz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Rules of the rooftop: Platform design and price reductions in an online solar photovoltaic marketplace in the United States
Energy Research and Social Science, 2019Co-Authors: Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Kunal Punjabi, Eric O'shaughnessy, Robert MargolisAbstract:Residential solar photovoltaic (PV) customers typically obtain price quotes directly from Installers, a process with high consumer search costs that enable price dispersion and can discourage adoption. Recently, however, customers are increasingly shopping for PV using third-party online platforms that make it easier to obtain and compare quotes from multiple Installers. While early evidence indicates that these platforms make the PV market more transparent and lower prices, the literature suggests that market outcomes are critically linked to detailed aspects of platform design. In this study, we econometrically analyze a unique dataset of quotes offered in the online PV marketplace EnergySage to investigate how four changes to the platform design have influenced quote prices and transaction prices. We find that the largest reductions in quote prices ($0.11/ W) and transaction prices ($0.15/W) were associated with the introduction of a price guidance information feature for Installers. While educating and informing customers has repeatedly emerged as a policy priority for bolstering PV markets, these results suggest that the same should be true on the supply side. We also find that customers are willing to pay higher transaction prices for systems with higher-quality panels, dispelling concerns that online PV marketplaces lead to a “race to the bottom” phenomenon by emphasizing price at the expense of quality.
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Effects of Platform Design on the Customer Experience in an Online Solar PV Marketplace
National Renewable Energy Laboratory Technical Report, 2018Co-Authors: Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Kunal Punjabi, Eric O'shaughnessy, Robert MargolisAbstract:We analyze a unique dataset of residential solar PV quotes offered in an online marketplace to understand how platform design changes affect customer outcomes. Three of the four design changes are associated with statistically significant and robust reductions in offer prices, though none of the policies were designed explicitly to reduce prices. The results suggest that even small changes in how prospective solar PV customers interact with Installers can affect customer outcomes such as prices. Specifically, the four changes we evaluate are: 1) a customer map that shows potential new EnergySage registrants the locations of nearby customers; 2) a quote cap that precludes more than seven Installers from bidding on any one customer; 3) a price guidance feature that informs Installers about competitive prices in the customer's market before they submit quotes; and 4) no pre-quote messaging to prohibit Installers from contacting customers prior to offering quotes. We calculate descriptive statistics to investigate whether each design change accomplished its specific objectives. Then, we econometrically evaluate the impacts of the design changes on PV quote prices and purchase prices using a regression discontinuity approach.
Naim Darghouth - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The geography of solar energy in the United States: Market definition, industry structure, and choice in solar PV adoption
Energy Research and Social Science, 2018Co-Authors: Eric O'shaughnessy, Gregory F. Nemet, Naim DarghouthAbstract:The solar photovoltaic (PV) installation industry comprises thousands of firms around the world who collectively installed nearly 200 million panels in 2015. Spatial analysis of the emerging industry has received considerable attention from the literature, especially on the demand side concerning peer effects and adopter clustering. However this research area does not include similarly sophisticated spatial analysis on the supply side of the installation industry. The lack of understanding of the spatial structure of the PV installation industry leaves PV market research to rely on jurisdictional lines, such as counties, to define geographic PV markets. We develop an approach that uses the spatial distribution of Installers’ activity to define geographic boundaries for PV markets. Our method is useful for PV market research and applicable in the contexts of other industries. We use our approach to demonstrate that the PV industry in the United States is spatially heterogeneous. Despite the emergence of some national-scale PV Installers, Installers are largely local and installer communities are unique from one region to the next. The social implications of the spatial heterogeneity of the emerging PV industry involve improving understanding of issues such as market power, industry consolidation, and how much choice potential adopters have.
Kunal Punjabi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Rules of the rooftop: Platform design and price reductions in an online solar photovoltaic marketplace in the United States
Energy Research and Social Science, 2019Co-Authors: Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Kunal Punjabi, Eric O'shaughnessy, Robert MargolisAbstract:Residential solar photovoltaic (PV) customers typically obtain price quotes directly from Installers, a process with high consumer search costs that enable price dispersion and can discourage adoption. Recently, however, customers are increasingly shopping for PV using third-party online platforms that make it easier to obtain and compare quotes from multiple Installers. While early evidence indicates that these platforms make the PV market more transparent and lower prices, the literature suggests that market outcomes are critically linked to detailed aspects of platform design. In this study, we econometrically analyze a unique dataset of quotes offered in the online PV marketplace EnergySage to investigate how four changes to the platform design have influenced quote prices and transaction prices. We find that the largest reductions in quote prices ($0.11/ W) and transaction prices ($0.15/W) were associated with the introduction of a price guidance information feature for Installers. While educating and informing customers has repeatedly emerged as a policy priority for bolstering PV markets, these results suggest that the same should be true on the supply side. We also find that customers are willing to pay higher transaction prices for systems with higher-quality panels, dispelling concerns that online PV marketplaces lead to a “race to the bottom” phenomenon by emphasizing price at the expense of quality.
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Effects of Platform Design on the Customer Experience in an Online Solar PV Marketplace
National Renewable Energy Laboratory Technical Report, 2018Co-Authors: Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Kunal Punjabi, Eric O'shaughnessy, Robert MargolisAbstract:We analyze a unique dataset of residential solar PV quotes offered in an online marketplace to understand how platform design changes affect customer outcomes. Three of the four design changes are associated with statistically significant and robust reductions in offer prices, though none of the policies were designed explicitly to reduce prices. The results suggest that even small changes in how prospective solar PV customers interact with Installers can affect customer outcomes such as prices. Specifically, the four changes we evaluate are: 1) a customer map that shows potential new EnergySage registrants the locations of nearby customers; 2) a quote cap that precludes more than seven Installers from bidding on any one customer; 3) a price guidance feature that informs Installers about competitive prices in the customer's market before they submit quotes; and 4) no pre-quote messaging to prohibit Installers from contacting customers prior to offering quotes. We calculate descriptive statistics to investigate whether each design change accomplished its specific objectives. Then, we econometrically evaluate the impacts of the design changes on PV quote prices and purchase prices using a regression discontinuity approach.