The 1st of April came and went...

So the 1st of April came.... and went.

No big bangs - just a small collision in some underground experiment in Switzerland.

Certainly nothing to suggest that the start of the Governments new feed-in tariffs for renewable energy, started a stampede of interest from the general public. Not on my street anyway.

I can't help but fear there's a certain apathy from homeowners over the benefits of generating their own solar energy. And much of it may well be to do with money.

For a start, it seems you've either got to have some substantial savings set aside to buy and install solar energy (or other renewable forms) on your home. OK so there are some attractive pay back schemes and grants but they don't cover everything.

Then there's the payback period - I've seen figures quoted from 9 to 12 years upwards to get your money back on what you'd have paid for the installation up front.

In this 'fast-food' society where everything is instant - that's just too long for many to contemplate.

So, even though solar (and other renewable energy technologies) do offer a payback period as opposed to continuing to get your gas or electricity from your high st suppliers at ever increasing costs where there's never going to be any payback at all, some homeowners are still reluctant to install renewables.

Yes, many homeowners realise the importance of taking some responsibility for their homes contribution to global warming emissions and it may well be the green argument that does eventually persuade homeowners that renewables is the only choice.

Governments come and go and todays policies may be changed making it even more advantageous to install renewables or make it more costly to continue with present fuels.

One interesting idea i saw 'mooted' was whereby loans for green technologies could be attached to the property they were installed on rather than the owner. This way, the original installers get more payback from their investment, providing a greater incentive to install.

Have you noticed a surge in interest locally? Or are you, like me, waiting for the rush?

picture credit: ernst moeksis