## 1 Summary  
The local-national gap is a problem currently plaguing the adoption of emerging technologies targeted at resolving energy transition issues that are characterized by disparities in the adoption of innovations and policies on a local level in response to national policy implementation. It is becoming increasingly apparent that individual communities do not necessarily share the same energy wants and needs with one another, and as noted in multiple studies of energy development projects [1; 2], the alignment of value systems between energy sources and local needs plays a significant role in how, if at all, these sources are used [3]. Studies of the barriers and opportunities for implementing social innovations in the deployment of solar photovoltaics include a variety of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. These analyses are broadly concerned with identifying and reducing the barriers to adoption that occur at the level of policy-making (state or national), or within the decision-making processes of individuals. Nation-state-level analyses seek to impact how policy conversations pertaining to technology development, incentive structures, and other financial mechanisms enable sustainable energy transitions. Agent-based modeling studies [4; 5] leverage data gathered at the national scale,such as PV cost trends, solar irradiance, and incentive programs, to identify the capacity and location of future installations. A complimentary body of studies focuses on evaluating policy trends in high solar penetration areas (e.g., California) to generalize the possible impacts and limitations for other societies and institutional frameworks [6; 7; 8; 9]. Individual and collective behavior analyses also seek to intercede in policy development. Where they differ is in the focus on identifying opportunities for social programs that enable knowledge sharing between individuals and communities. Individual adopter motivations [10], social networks [11; 12], and perceptions of the technology [13; 14; 15] are the focus: these are elucidated through a series of surveys, semi-structured interviewing, and in some cases, ethnographic analysis. A key result from this body of work is the recognition that non-financial factors such as peer effects and the perception of self as an innovator [16] also drive when and how people adopt solar. Nevertheless, gaps persist in our understanding of the disparities between national policy conversations about solar adoption and local action towards these goals. Known as the \"local-national gap,\" this burgeoning area of research seeks to establish a space for national policy analyses and studies of individual motivations with community-level dynamics. [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] [17] noted that societal acceptance of energy technologies such as solar depends on factors such as socio-political acceptance, community acceptance, and market acceptance. These factors highlight that communities respond to new technologies in complex ways that belie perceptions of pro- and anti-innovation communities (NIMBYism). [PERSON] and [PERSON] [18] and [PERSON] et al. [19] further posited that redressing the incoherence between national and local trends will require examining how actors independently and collectively interact and make decisions at scales ranging from individual communities to national action. As described in [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] [20], there is a state within the United States of America that proves to be an interesting case study for investigating issues of local adoption of national renewable energy policy: Georgia. The Energy Information Administration positions Georgia as a leader in biomass energy production and an emerging space for the deployment of photovoltaic solar in the utility, commercial, and residential sectors [21]. Its status as an emergent space for PV solar is reflective of the perceived high potential for solar energy in Georgia in terms of solar insolation, it having some of the highest in the southeastern United States (Figure 1).