As demand for clean energy rises and large-scale solar (LSS) development accelerates, effective community engagement around LSS siting is becoming especially critical. Despite the clear need add solar capacity to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, local opposition to LSS projects is on the rise, resulting in missed opportunities for both communities and developers.  

There is little consensus around what specific strategies and approaches are effective for garnering community support for large-scale solar. This gap means that developers and communities alike lack clear, evidence-based approaches to effective community outreach around LSS siting. Community concerns may go unheard while developers take on costly, often ineffective outreach efforts.  

As part of a 3-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Evolution and Diffusion Studies program, otherwise known as SEEDS4, SI2 and project partners are working to understand the factors and approaches to community outreach that influence LSS acceptance.

At the heart of this project is a survey experiment testing community engagement strategies in the field. By deploying repeated survey waves in communities where strategies are being deployed, the project team will be able to test approaches community engagement in a real-world setting. The project results will be presented in both academic papers and reports and tools for practitioners. 

Initial Findings