ASSESSING PUBLIC OPINION ON SOLAR ENERGY TOPICS USING GOOGLE TRENDS

Alexandra Perju-Mitran () and Raul-Augustin Mitran ()
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Alexandra Perju-Mitran: Romanian-American University, Bucharest, Romania
Raul-Augustin Mitran: “Ilie Murgulescu” Institute of Physical Chemistry, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania

Journal of Information Systems & Operations Management, 2018, vol. 12, issue 1, 153-162

Abstract: Public interest towards environmental and green energy topics is a vital part shaping both political action and consumer behavior towards these topics. The interest shown by the public towards various topics can be gauged by the frequency of online search queries. This “big data” approach can be used in topics ranging from epidemiologic to environmental or financial topics. Google provides access to all search queries performed stating from 2004 using its online search engine through the Google Trends service. We present a study of multiple search keywords associated with solar energy in the 2004-2017 time span. Our results show a marked difference between keywords denoting large scale or small scale solar installations, as well as a shifting of public interest from the former to the latter, which can be associated with decreasing prices for photovoltaic solar panels. The total search frequency related to solar energy topics shows a maximum in spring 2008, followed by a decline up to 2014 and an increase in the last years.

Date: 2018
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http://www.rebe.rau.ro/RePEc/rau/jisomg/SU18/JISOM-SU18-A13.pdf (application/pdf)

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