Feed-in tariffs for renewable business energy initiatives are showing promise, although the uptake of the technology is still in its infancy, according to the Renewable Energy Association.
Technical director Stuart Pocock says that, while some commercial sustainability schemes have been seen already, he hopes to witness more initiatives coming from a wide range of business and public properties in the months to come.
Possible locations for greater use of
green energy under the current feed-in tariffs structure include hospitals and schools, in addition to traditional business premises, he suggests.
In spite of this infancy in green business energy uptake, Mr Pocock adds that feed-in tariffs have made a promising start - in both commercial and domestic settings.
"Obviously it's slightly different for the commercial sector, because there is still planning permission needed," he concedes, continuing that there are also more "hoops to jump through" in getting projects off the ground.
But the steady growth in installations may be no bad thing, as he also suggests that he has no desire to witness a boom and bust pattern of growth - something he claims has occurred in other markets.
The feed-in tariffs system is helping to make sure that this expansion in the market continues, according to Mr Pocock, thanks to the rates that have been set for payments under the scheme.
He indicates that these are helping to attract investors with funds to place into green energy installations - particularly photovoltaic panels - without resulting in an unsustainable pace of growth.
"It's early days," Mr Pocock says. "Still, the feedback we're getting is that, to get equity investors interested in photovoltaics, the rates are high enough."
He concludes that the emerging supply chain in the sector must also be sufficient to support any future expansion in renewable energy markets in order to maintain controlled increases in capacity.
