Home Solar Power Introduced to Green Power Market

A project to promote the environmental value of home-generated electricity using photovoltaic (PV) systems, called the PV-Green project, was launched in March 2005 by the PV Owner Network, Japan (PV-Net). Having noted that most households with PV systems consume about half of the electricity generated, the network decided to issue green power certificates for this power in order to focus on the environmental value of personal consumption of PV-generated electricity. The network is the first in the world to market green power certificates for home PV generation.

PV-Net is a non-profit organization consisting mainly of individual PV system owners, and has been promoting PV systems from the perspective of citizens by disseminating information on solar power generation.

As of August 2005, more than 300 PV home systems nationwide had been certified as green power generators by the Green Power Certification Council of Japan. PV-Net started actual trading of PV-Green Certificates in July, providing a list of various locations of solar power generation for customers to choose from. Events such as local festivals and a concert tour helped launch sales of the green power certificates in July. For individual customers, a small-sized certificate with a tin badge is also available.

The total capacity of solar power generation in Japan reached 1.13 million kilowatts in 2004, the highest in the world. Residential use accounts for 828,000 kilowatts, 73 percent of the total. Nominated as one of the Fiscal 2005 CO2 Reduction Model Projects by the Ministry of the Environment, PV-Net is enthusiastically promoting new installation of solar power generators under the PV-Green project. The network expects that full utilization of all the environmental potentialities of solar generation at households will further promote PV systems, and hopes to attain 4.82 million kilowatts of generation capacity by 2010.

http://eneken.ieej.or.jp/greenpower/eng/index.htm

Posted: 2006/01/15 04:10:51 PM
Japanese version