Summary

Load shedding or rolling blackouts are an ongoing problem for electricity consumers in South Africa who are eager to avoid what are often 10-hour daily interruptions. In this campaign, video messages were successful at convincing participants that it is easy to recoup the cost of installing solar. Baseline agreement to other messages about the benefits of solar energy was so high that the videos had no effect on the outcomes (known as the ceiling effect). 

Study Design

A sample of 1,505 South African residents participated in the study in September 2024. Participants were assigned to view one of three videos about the benefits of solar power or a placebo video. They were then asked to rate their agreement with seven statements about the benefits of solar energy. 

Key Findings

• The baseline agreement from participants who viewed the placebo video to six of the seven statements about the benefits of solar energy was already very high, with 62-72% of respondents strongly agreeing to them. Only the statement “It is easy to recoup the installation cost of solar panels through the solar payback period” saw a significant increase in agreement from participants.
• All three videos significantly persuaded participants that it would be easy to recoup the cost of installing solar with increases in agreement of 13-15% compared to the control group. 
• One video performed especially well with participants with some college education, increasing support for two statements (“Solar panels free up the electric grid.” and “I would recommend installing solar panels to friends and family.”) by 16%.