More than nine out of ten people would consider installing solar panels on their property, according to research. A survey of 750 households revealed that 91 per cent of Britons have considered or would consider installing the panels which convert sunlight into electricity.
The study, conducted by Mark Watson of the graduate school at the Centre for Alternative Technologies, revealed that just two per cent of homes already had solar panels installed but that given the right incentive this figure could rise.
Next year the government is to introduce feed-in tariffs, which will see energy providers pay owners of small scale renewable installations more per unit of energy than they charge per unit.
The study showed that, while providers currently sell electricity at 15p per kilowatt hour, if they were to pay households and businesses 50p per kilowatt hour, the uptake of solar panels would rise to 23 per cent.
"Photovoltaic systems are one of the easiest renewable energy technologies to integrate in towns and cities, as they can be installed on roofs and building facades with minimal intrusion. Despite this photovoltaic uptake in the UK is still very low compared to countries such as Germany," said Mr Watson.
"It's now clear that setting the feed in tariff at the right level could really tip the balance of demand."
Feed-in tariffs were set up by the Energy Act, which also called for the generation of 15 per cent of UK energy from renewables by 2020 and laid the groundwork for an incentive for renewable heat as well.