A government scheme has encouraged households to use renewable energy supplies, which is likely to come as welcome news for those with jobs in environment and sustainability.
Director of Source Renewable Laurie Eve has said the government's feed-in tariffs (FITs) initiative, which was introduced in April 2010, has resulted in an increased demand for domestic renewable energy supplies.
He stated that the scheme, which incentivises low-carbon electricity generation by offsetting the cost of the energy they generate from the technology, has "really kickstarted the whole industry".
Mr Eve recognised that while solar PV (photovoltaic) installation would normally take between 25 and 30 years to pay for itself, "now a typical installation would take eight to ten years" to do this.
However, he added that there are "big obstacles" that prevent it from having as much impact as it could, such as the lack of familiarity with the systems among planning offices.
This comes after Ofgem revealed that 2010 saw more than 16,000 domestic renewable energy installations through FITs.
Posted by Jennifer Masters
