Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Japan's solar module shipments double in 2009/2010

TOKYO, May 18 (Reuters) - Solar cell modules shipped in Japan more than doubled last year, an industry data showed, underlining Tokyo's recent drive to shift away from fuel imports to prop up the economy and cut greenhouse gasses.

The shipments include those of solar cell modules made in Japan and those made by foreign makers and imported into Japan, with the share of the latter growing rapidly in the world's third-largest market for solar energy.
In the Japanese financial year to March 2010, the shipments rose to 623.13 megawatts (MW) from 236.79 MW a year earlier and exceeded the previous record in 2005/2006 of 305.07 MW, the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association's data showed on Tuesday.
Behind the jump in shipments is a scheme the Japanese government introduced in November 2009 to make utilities buy surplus solar-power electricity that households produce at a higher rate. [ID:nT5219]
The government is now considering ways to make the unique "feed-in tariff" scheme into a full-fledged one, effective in November this year.
In January, 2009, Japan resumed subsidies to house owners who put solar panels on their roofs as one of the economic stimulus measures.
Demand for solar panels had dried up after the government pulled the plug on subsidies in March 2006, resulting in a shift to exports by Japanese makers, such as Sharp Corp  and Kyocera Corp .
Exports of solar cell modules rose to 1,045.40 MW in 2009/2010, up 18 percent from a year earlier and almost double from 578.69 MW in 2005/2006, according to Tuesday's data.

No comments:

Post a Comment