Japanese Ministry (METI) to Subsidize Residential PV Installation

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On October 16, 2008, the Japanese Diet passed a supplementary budget for FY 2008 that includes urgent general measures to secure the nation's living standards. As a part of measures to realize a low-carbon society, it was decided to provide subsidies to households that install residential photovoltaic (PV) systems during FY 2008.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has allocated 9 billion yen (about US$86 million) for the subsidy program to promote residential PV system installations in the FY2008 supplementary budget. The Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA) was selected as the subsidiary enterprise to distribute the subsidies.

The unit cost of the subsidy will be 70,000 yen (about US$667) per kilowatt (kW) installed. The average subsidy amount will be between 200,000 yen to 250,000 yen (about US$1905 to $2381) for common households (3-3.5kW) and the upper limit for installation capacity is expected to be less than 10kW. The supplementary budget was estimated to support installation for about 35,000 households.

To promote the program, 23.8 billion yen (about US$227 million) was also requested for the coming FY2009.

- The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) official website http://www.meti.go.jp/english/index.html

Posted: 2009/02/15 06:00:15 AM

TAG Energy , Government , NGO/Citizen