New project: “A Comparative Analysis of Community Support for U.S. Large-Scale Solar Development” just approved for DOE funding of $2.5M. Lead PIs are Sanya Carley (UPenn) and David Konisky (IUB) with co-PIs: Jennifer Silva (IUB), Parrish Bergquist (UPenn), Gilbert Michaud (Loyola U.), Alison Knasin (UPenn) and Shahzeen Attari (IUB).
In this collaborative effort, our objective is to study the factors that influence community acceptance of LSS (large-scale solar). Our goal is to evaluate when and how the influence of siting practices and community perceptions and beliefs affect community support or opposition for LSS projects and the advancement of projects from planning to completion. To address these objectives, we seek to answer the following interrelated questions:
1. Which factors most significantly shape community perceptions toward local LSS projects?
2. What siting practices are most important in understanding levels and patterns of community support for LSS projects?
3. What LSS siting practices serve to effectively engage or disengage communities, and under what conditions do they meaningfully increase or decrease community support for LSS projects?
4. Do the effects of siting practices vary by community, and, specifically, do they shape community support differently in historic fossil fuel or disadvantaged communities?