A study completed by the CSIRO for the Australian PV Association has concluded that the majority of Australian people support solar power or storing generated electricity at home. 

The survey, delivered in March 2013, presented people with two technologies – either solar hot water, grid connected solar pv, grid connected solar with a battery backup, battery alone systems, off-grid pv systems or community pv systems. Their opinions and attitudes towards the renewable energy scenarios were recorded and most would consider installing solar power or hot water, if they had not already.

“The survey results indicated that overall, there is general support by householders to participate in the distributed energy market, particularly through the installation of solar hot water heaters, solar photovoltaic systems connected to the grid for energy generation and with battery backup,” the report finds.

The survey also included attitudes to financing options. Obviously, the most popular was to buy the product upfront but they were also open to financing, leasing and Energy Service Company (ESCO) packaging in that order.

The main concern, understandably, was cost saving. Like many of us, respondents were happy to support solar options as they gave cost cutting measures. More surprisingly, those who were most supportive of ‘distributed generation’ were willing to give up some power reliability for additional environmental benefits.

Over 30% of people surveyed already had solar power systems or solar hot water systems installed and the vast majority of them were very happy with their installations. Of those who did not have of the options installed, two-thirds still supported them and the vast majority would consider installing a solar power system in their homes.

Click here to see more of the Key Findings or the Full Report.