The cost of solar in Japan declined as much as 15% in one year, but a lack of clear policy direction from the government has left a number of businesses with a “pessimistic” outlook of the industry’s future, according to a survey by the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation (JREF).
Japan has confirmed it will make big cuts to the feed-in tariff (FiT) payable for solar, which have been expected for some time, dropping the rate by around 16%, from ¥32 (US$0.27) per kWh to ¥27 per kWh by July.
Kyocera is targeting the German market for self-consumed solar electricity, with the Japanese company preparing to launch a home energy storage system in May.
The increasing amount of PV installed in combination with electrical storage options is bucking the trend in the opposite direction for overall residential solar installations in Germany.
Japan’s residential and small commercial solar industry could represent a “huge, huge opportunity” for suppliers of inverters and module-level power electronics, according to an analyst with market research firm IHS.
The worldwide market for balance of systems (BOS) for solar power could be worth US$21 billion by 2019, with the greatest activity expected to be seen in the commercial sector, according to a new report from analysis firm IHS.
From the nuclear question to Japan's softening stance on foreign solar imports, Andy Colthorpe rounds up the main themes that came out of PV Expo in Tokyo last week.
Deregulation of the Japanese electricity market, expected to begin next year, could “breathe new life into PV”, according to Shawn Qu, chief executive and chairman of Canadian Solar.
The PV Expo exhibition and conference takes place in Japan this week and will look both to the present task of executing projects from a 50GW-plus pipeline and to the longer term challenges faced by an industry entering the final years of its feed-in tariff (FiT).
Another phase of a 400MW Texas photovoltaic plant, constructed by a partnership between developer OCI Solar and local utility CPS Energy, has been completed, bringing 5.5MW onto the grid in San Antonio.
