When I started in the business about 10 years ago, there was not much interest from industry, from people who own buildings, to go solar. As we have now reached that critical mass, and word of mouth is passed around, and people have been satisfied with their systems, they are becoming more and more interested. The government program at the time helped make that happen.
Now I would say that people want solar energy more than the government does. That really is my perception. I hear every day, for example, on the residential level, “There is nothing available right now; can we do something?” There is a 10-year payback, they are told. “Well, government should help.”
In industry it's the same. People know about it now because of the government programs. I think the government programs that have been reinstated, such as ecoENERGY right now, have based themselves on the old REDI program. I think there should be more funds and more promotion and there should be easier access to all the manufacturers to make the technology proliferate. It should be pushed more, and certainly not interrupted the way it was.
When I was here last June I said, please, don't interrupt the program. It was interrupted, and it causes hiccups in the market. Maybe from your side it's hard to see the consequences, but it creates hiccups and distortions in the market. Right now we're grappling with this.