Japan's PV industry is changing fast. The feed-in tariff has brought about over 30GW of installed capacity, with large-scale solar outnumbering residential by about 10 to one. Ahead of this week's PV Expo in Tokyo, Andy Colthorpe takes a look at some of the issues expected to dominate.
Just hours after Taiwanese electronics maker Foxconn looked poised to buy a majority stake in Japan’s Sharp, the deal has been delayed, according to various reports.
After Japan’s solar market got off to a flying start, a combination of policy headwinds and grid constraints has made the going much tougher. But with new market segments opening up and an electricity market reform process about to get underway the prospects for the world’s second largest PV market of 2015 still look strong.
Lichtblick, a retailer of ‘green electricity and green gas’ headquartered in Germany, is looking to take its concept for integrating multiple distributed generation sources into a single network into international markets.
Japan’s solar FiT for the next financial year could be set at ¥24 (US$0.21) per kWh, while controversial curtailment rules to restrict output from PV plants have been applied on the southern island of Kyushu.
The “extraordinary amount” of money Germany has spent transitioning away from fossil fuels and nuclear is looking increasingly like an investment in the country’s future competitiveness, according to the chief economist of the US Underwriters’ Laboratory.
The deregulated electricity market which Japan launches in April could be a long-term way for PV’s contribution to the country’s energy mix to exceed the industry and government target of 7% by 2030.
Turner Renewable Energy, owned by media moghul Ted Turner, will be one of the new owners of a 20MW thin-film PV plant in the US constructed by Solar Frontier Americas.
Holland’s national grid operator has said that batteries will be an “excellent alternative” to conventional power plants in providing balancing services, especially as a complement to increased solar and wind deployment.
Sandstone Solar, a 45MW PV plant in Arizona, has been officially opened by developer Spower and utility Salt River Project, which will buy power from the plant.
