...“Most people don’t even know about C.H.P.,” Mr. Bullock said. As a result, he added, “People are willing to pay a lot more money for solar panels than what a C.H.P. system would cost.”
The low price of natural gas in the United States — a result of the plentiful supplies created by the hydraulic fracturing boom — may make the systems more appealing, Mr. Bullock said, though homeowners, lacking the negotiating power of large industrial users, may not reap the full benefit of the lower gas prices.
In Europe, Delta Energy & Environment forecasts that 40,000 to 70,000 units a year will be sold by 2015, but “an outcome with substantially lower sales is possible,” said Jon Slowe, a director for the company, adding that Britain and Germany are using incentives to push the hardest for micro-C.H.P. technology.
Germany has a target of getting 25 percent of its power from C.H.P. systems of all sizes by 2020. A draft proposal now under consideration would increase incentives for the systems, although Ulrich Fikar, a spokesman for the industry group Cogen Europe, said it was “not ambitious enough for micro-C.H.P.”
The Netherlands used to be a promising market, but the new government sharply cut spending and incentives, according to Mr. Slowe. Belgium, too, is cutting spending.
“It’s a really tough time in Europe, with governments trying to tighten their belts,” Mr. Slowe said.
The United States has even fewer incentives for micro-C.H.P., as it does for most alternative energy sources.
“Look at the difference between the U.S. and, say, Germany,” Mr. Bullock said. In Germany, “you’ve got feed-in tariffs, a much more active regulatory environment, you have programs that support financing and implementation.”