Japan's New Sunshine Programme is an ambitious attempt by the nation's government to introduce alternatives to fossil fuel energy sources. The incorporation of PV into the country's energy mix - to help reduce consumption of imported petroleum and combat the problem of global warming - is seen as a priority.

As part of the promotion to introduce new energy resources, the Japanese cabinet has already sanctioned substantial financial backing for a pilot programme of rooftop PV installation. A government subsidy of 50 of costs is available to householders to help implement PV system installations. In the 1994 financial year of 2000 million yen (USD 20 million) was allocated for some 600 systems each of 3-4 kWp. Double this amount has been earmarked for 1200 projects in 1995.

The Council of Ministers for the Promotion of Comprehensive Energy Measures, which has prepared a national directive on New Energy Introduction, is urging potential developers to promote PV alongside other renewable energy resources as part of a total energy system approach to building design. Potentially 70 000 homes could be involved in the rooftop PV project so it is perhaps not surprising that a number of leading PV manufacturers have formed alliances with prominent housing developers. Evidently The Council is also aware of the need for central and local government backing of PV systems and ahas called not only for wide-ranging information dissemination activities, but also for the introduction of PV generation plant at government related facilities. These would serve both as practical demonstrations and as valuable endorsement of the advantages of PV power generation systems.

The Programme is still very much in its infancy, but if all goes well some 400 MWp of PV could be installed in Japan by the year 2000, and an estimated 4,6 GWp by 2010.

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