From wind and geothermal power to fuel cells, the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred March 11 off the coast of Fukushima - along with much longer standing energy security concerns - has revitalized clean and renewable energy prospects in Japan. Smoothing the way forward is the introduction of a national feed-in tariff that's slated to go into effect on July 1 this year.
Once the world leader in use of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy, solar PV is once again coming on strong in Japan. Domestic sales of solar PV cells rose 30.7% year-over-year in 2011 to 1,296 MW, the first time they've exceeded 1 gigawatt (GW), according to the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA), which noted that government incentives for homebuyers installing solar energy systems boosted the total. As can be seen in the following chart, residential solar PV installations far and away account for the largest share of Japan's solar PV installations. (cleantechnica.com)
From wind and geothermal power to fuel cells, the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred March 11 off the coast of Fukushima - along with much longer standing energy security concerns - has revitalized clean and renewable energy prospects in Japan. Smoothing the way forward is the introduction of a national feed-in tariff that's slated to go into effect on July 1 this year.
Once the world leader in use of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy, solar PV is once again coming on strong in Japan. Domestic sales of solar PV cells rose 30.7% year-over-year in 2011 to 1,296 MW, the first time they've exceeded 1 gigawatt (GW), according to the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA), which noted that government incentives for homebuyers installing solar energy systems boosted the total. As can be seen in the following chart, residential solar PV installations far and away account for the largest share of Japan's solar PV installations. (cleantechnica.com)