The Austrian government at first showed a degree of reluctance to set attractive targets for the renewable energy within the country and at one point it is was claimed that their reluctance could have a massively detrimental effect on the whole renewable energy industry in Europe.

The targets are now more in line with the rest of the EU and the renewable energy market in this country now seems to be more stable and progressing at a quicker pace.

The programme that Austria now has in place to encourage the use of renewable is proving to be extremely effective and out of the gross energy consumption, 30% is covered by this form of energy.

Because of the typical Austrian climate this is a respectable figure which shows that the governments energy policies are having the desired effect on the population. The government have not only centred their policies on the carbon foot print but also the worldwide increase in fuel prices and how much families will save through solar power.

The regional government of Upper Austria is committed to an energy efficient programme called 'Energy 21' and by 2030 they are predicting that they will cover almost all of their space heat and electricity from renewable energy sources.

As with many other countries Austria has introduced a feed-in tariff in which any excess electricity which is generated by private and commercial installations can be sold back to the national grid.

The feed-in tariff in Austria is dependant on the amount of solar power generated but currently pays out on a sliding scale from from 0.30 to 0.46 (€/kWh) for a term of 10 years and that amount is guaranteed over this period of time.

As with most European countries there are grants available to help with the solar panel installation costs but these grants vary from region to region. The average installation costs for a solar installation in an average size family home in Austria would be around €21,500 and if the grants and incentives are taken as an average across the country the period of time to realise this amount in electricity savings would be approximately 12 years.

More information can be found with regard to the Austrian Governments renewable energy policy in the following document: http://www.energy.eu/renewables/factsheets/2008_res_sheet_austria_en.pdf The information contained was written in 2008 but is still highly relevant today.