Japan Growing in Renewable Energy Sources

A man watches waves break into anti-tsunami barriers after a storm in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture on September 16, 2013. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), operator of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, said on Monday it released what was believed to be untainted rainwater around the storage tank areas into the ocean in order to avoid flooding near the tanks due to heavy rains by Typhoon Man-yi

        According to new research released by NPD Solarbuzz, Japan has become one of only five countries to have achieved 10 gigawatts of cumulative solar capacity. While aiming to diversify its energy mix, Japan is developing its renewable energy sector, especially as it steers away from nuclear power following the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011. The development of solar power in Japan slowed in the mid-2000s, partly due to a 10-year energy plan that favored nuclear power.
       With a shifting of focus toward renewable energy, and after a new law approving feed-in tariffs for renewable energy was passed last year, the Japanese government is giving incentives for the use of solar energy. The policy requires utility companies in Japan to buy electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind at a premium price for the next 20 years.

Japan Proposes to cut Solar Power Price

         Recently, it has been discovered that Japan has submitted a proposal to cut solar power prices by 10%, leaving, in its midst, a place for incentives to trigger increasing amounts of solar power installations. Researchers have observed that the prices for solar power would be assumed to be cut in the beginning of April this year while payment for the wind energy sector prices remain unchanged. However, of course, the Japanese government has to consent to the proposal before solar power prices can be enforced and utilized.
         In the previous year, Japan has invested on non-residential solar projects totaling the estimate value to be 222 billion yen, or in other words, $2.3 billion, adding 580 megawatts of solar power capacity. This year, however, the country is claimed to have spent 438 billion yen for 1,460 megawatts.
          Hisao Kayaoka, secretary general of the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association, has claimed that the proposal may not change circumstances for the solar market is expanding but, the proposal will provide continual growth in the market. The association member companies consists of the following companies: SunTech Power Holdings (STP) Company, Kyocera Corporation, Solar Frontier K.K. and Sharp Corporation. These companies help make solar panels while another member of the association, Kansai Electric Power Company, is responsible for power utility. The proposed incentives actually aid companies, such as Kyocera Corporation, in giving them opportunity to construct solar stations while also encouraging Softbank Corporation, a mobile-phone provider, to develop solar power plants.

Shirashi Daiichi Elementary School received a grant of up to 30 million Japanese yen ($369,000) to purchase and install solar power equipment. In this photo featured above, it is shown that the pupils are touching the solar power generator installed.