Across the U.S., people love solar power. A poll released early this year found that 80 percent of voters want the country to rely more on solar energy in the next five years. In fact, studies have even shown that rooftop solar actually goes viral—clustering in the same geographic area. New research suggests that social persuasion may be the real factor at work, which could have implications for solar marketing.

According to Tor Valenza, author of Solar Fred’s Guide to Solar Guerrilla Marketing: “Solar installations may cluster in neighborhoods, but that may be due more to peer and solar marketing persuasion tactics than neighbors simply seeing solar and wanting to ‘keep up with the Joneses.’”

What does this mean for your marketing efforts? If you want your customers’ neighbors to start calling, you need to create connections between your past and future customers through referrals, testimonials, house parties and neighborhood association meetings. These tactics take time but are more likely to get results. Read more of Solar Fred’s recommendations here.