Beyond Technology Adoption: The Household Solar Utilization Meaning Framework (HSUMF) for Understanding Household Solar Energy Utilization in Urban Zambia

Abstract Household consistent use of solar energy in many urban settings in Sub-Saharan Africa has been uneven. This is despite the global drive and investments in clean energy. Many studies focus on adoption using technological, behavioral, and economic lenses. There is limited understanding of how households interpret and use solar energy in everyday life. This study develops the Household Solar Utilization Meaning Framework (HSUMF) from qualitative evidence on households using solar products in urban Zambia. Guided by hermeneutic phenomenology and informed by Social Phenomenology, Social Norms Theory, and an interpretive adaptation of the Technology Acceptance Model, the study adopted interpretivist qualitative design. Data was generated through 20 in-depth key informant interviews and 5 focus group discussions involving 125 total participants in Chelstone, Lusaka. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to interpret empirical material. The findings suggest that household solar energy utilization is more than a response to energy shortages; it is a socially embedded process of meaning construction. Structural energy challenges appeared to trigger interest in solar technologies, while community observation, social learning, and shared experience shaped household interpretations of solar as a source of reliability, security, educational continuity, food preservation, livelihood protection, and emotional well-being. These meanings became embedded in everyday household practices, even though financial limitations and technological constraints continued to shape the extent of use. The resulting Household Solar Utilization Meaning Framework (HSUMF) shows how structural realities, social interaction, and lived meaning may jointly influence household engagement with solar energy. The study contributes to renewable energy research by extending predominantly behavioural explanations of household solar utilization through an interpretive framework grounded in lived experience. It further provides contextually grounded insights to inform renewable energy policy, sustainable marketing strategies, and community-centred approaches to accelerating household energy transitions in urban African contexts.