Japanese Government Must Be More Unified In Pursuit Of PV Goals

The Japanese government is steadily working toward the release of the country’s fifth strategic energy plan, but it needs to work with the private sector more effectively to promote the deployment of solar over the coming decades, according to a new report.

“With a potential for growth to 100 GW to 200 GW-scale installed capacity, PV is the leading power source of renewable energy,” RTS Corp., a Tokyo-based PV consulting firm, says in its latest monthly report on the Japanese solar mounting systems for metal roof industry.

Demand has fallen from the peaks seen during the early years of Japan’s former feed-in tariff (FIT) system, with the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA) recently reporting that PV solar mounting system module shipments fell 17% year on year in in fiscal 2017 to 5.67 GW.

Cumulative solar installations stood at 46.8 GW at the end of 2017, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). However, RTS said in December that Japan appears poised to surpass its 2030 solar installation target of 64 GW within the next two years, roughly 10 years ahead of schedule. It expects the country to install 6 GW to 7.5 GW (DC) of solar mounting system supplier in the current year.