Combining home weatherization, rooftop solar rebates, and direct bill assistance reduces energy burdens for low-income households far more effectively than bill assistance alone, according to a study published in Nature Communications. Researchers Sydney P. Forrester, Eric O’Shaughnessy, and Galen Barbose at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory analyzed how state programs interact to lower energy burden, defined as the share of household income spent on energy.
Nature Communications reported that deploying all three approaches together achieves a lower net present cost than operating bill assistance by itself, though specific effects vary across regions. Weatherization decreases the solar installation capacity required for a home, and using both technologies together can reduce or completely eliminate a household's ongoing reliance on bill assistance.
Under a model assuming full uptake among cost-effective households, a program combining fully rebated weatherization and rooftop solar rebated at $0.48 per watt alongside bill assistance achieved the same modeled net present cost as running bill assistance alone. However, the three-part strategy reduced the share of low-income owner-occupied households experiencing high energy burdens from 66% down to 19%. Relying strictly on bill assistance reduced that share to 34%.
The study also evaluated program performance without tax credits. Absent tax credits, weatherization continues to cut energy burdens and lower overall costs for bill assistance programs. In contrast, rooftop solar may not remain cost-competitive without tax credits.
The research received funding in fiscal year 2024 from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy under Solar Energy Technologies Office Agreement Number 38444 and Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Forrester, O’Shaughnessy, and Barbose submitted their paper on Jan. 28, 2026, and the peer-reviewed journal accepted it on July 30, 2026, before publishing it on Aug. 7, 2026. The authors declared no competing interests.
