It's all about the money ! think back when the power companies told us we needed to change to more efficient light bulbs and appliances to save electricity ? now changing to these more efficient and expensive appliances would actually save us money by reducing our electric bill. people went out and bought appliances that cost 2 or 3 times what the originals did to save electricity
You should see what I see with residential solar systems around here. Basically, it works out like this; buy a solar panel system, "free green energy", save ~$50 a month on your power bill, make payments of $100+ per month for 20-30 years for a system with a 15-20 year lifespan.
Sounds like a deal if you don't think about it.
But some people eat that shit up. I'd say 20% or less of the people I've talked to with these solar systems bought it for a secondary/back-up power source. The others I guess just bought it because they were told to. 
