News Article
Solar Research Provides Positive Feedback
Solar survey reveals a positive consumer attitude
Renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and solar PV panels sometimes get a bad press because of their aesthetic appearance. Now the results of a new survey should finally put this argument to bed - for solar PV panels at least! Over 700 people from across the country completed an online survey, which asked them to describe the look of solar PV panels on domestic roofs. Only 7% of respondents described them as an "˜eyesore'. The majority of respondents gave the panels a thumbs up describing them as "˜eye catching' (12%), "˜futuristic' (25%) and "˜green' (56%).
Dave Langford is from solar panel installation company Solar Direct Savings (SDS) the company that carried out the survey. He said the results showed how these panels are slowly changing the traditional British roofscape and as a result, becoming more acceptable.
"Solar panels are now much more common, and across the UK are the most popular method of generating small scale renewable power," said Dave. "Sales have largely been driven by the Government's current feed-in-tariff, which is very generous. With traditional energy prices continuing to soar, people can expect to see a lot more solar PV panels over the coming years."
Regionally, people in the East Midlands were most likely to find solar panels an "˜eyesore' "“ though that was still only a minority of 8%. Yorkshire looks to have really embraced solar PV panels as more people here than elsewhere described the panels as "˜green' (48%). This comes hot on the heels of another report which listed Sheffield and Leeds as top of a UK renewable energy installation list.
"Since the Government introduced the feed-in-tarrif, over 38,000 domestic users have benefited from solar PV panels," said Dave. "The soaring price of traditional energy sources coupled with what is a very generous feed-in-tariff has seen canny purchasers make an investment, which some describe as giving better returns than an ISA.
