Socio-Economic Assessment of Solar PV in the Residential Sector of Saudi Arabia and Oman

Solar photovoltaic (PV) is one of the most promising renewable technologies in the building sector across the world. This study aims to investigate the socio-economic acceptance of solar PV in the residential sector of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Oman. It reflects the impacts of gender roles on PV technology from the economic and social aspects by targeting a diverse sample of individuals from Saudi and Omani societies, including men and women. The study analyses empirical data through a questionnaire-based survey. Results suggest that most of the survey respondents are unfamiliar with PV technology. Saudi society appears to be more unfamiliar with PV compared to Oman with respective values of 19.8% and, 10.7%. Results show that in Saudi Arabia, 49% of the respondents believe that males should be primarily responsible for decision-making; compared to Oman, this percentage is slightly lower at 33%. A significant portion of respondents in Oman with 54.8% indicated that both genders share the decision-making responsibility, compared to Saudi Arabia, which has a lower percentage at 47.5%. Overall due to a lack of social acceptance, the local communities of both countries are not yet ready to implement PV technology in their homes. Although, economically, an overall percentage of 92.5% are interested in using PV technology in the future, 34.4% and 43.5% in Saudi Arabia and Oman respectively are unwilling to re-arrange their roofs to install the PV panels for the additional cost.