Structural properties in the diffusion of the solar photovoltaic in Italy: individual people/householder vs firms

TL;DR

This paper models the diffusion of solar photovoltaic adoption in Italy using Markovian and Mean Field Game models, comparing their predictions to real data and exploring policy implications.

Contribution

It introduces two novel mathematical models to analyze individual and firm behavior in solar PV adoption, linking theoretical dynamics with empirical data.

Findings

Models accurately describe domestic and firm adoption behaviors during different periods.

Mean Field Game captures firm behavior features better than the Markovian model.

Insights suggest specific subsidy strategies may enhance diffusion.

Abstract

This paper develops two mathematical models to understand subjects' behavior in response to the urgency of a change and inputs from governments e.g., (subsides) in the context of the diffusion of the solar photovoltaic in Italy. The first model is a Markovian model of interacting particle systems. The second one, instead, is a Mean Field Game model. In both cases, we derive the scaling limit deterministic dynamics, and we compare the latter to the Italian solar photovoltaic data. We identify periods where the first model describes the behavior of domestic data well and a period where the second model captures a particular feature of data corresponding to companies. The comprehensive analysis, integrated with a philosophical inquiry focusing on the conceptual vocabulary and correlative implications, leads to the formulation of hypotheses about the efficacy of different forms of governmental subsidies.