Japan’s current residential PV programme will expire at the end of the 2002 Fiscal Year. Despite no clear successor at this stage, major industry seems confident of a bouyant future PV market.

The Residential PV System Dissemination programme has been one of the key drivers for global PV market growth, accounting for in the order of 20% of the additional worldwide generation capacity installed over the past 4-5 years.

The initial success of the programme was due largely to the high (50 %) capital subsidies available to the end users, but while the average subsidy has been diminishing – such that the current JPY 120/kW rebate equates to 15%-20% of the installed system price – demand for PV among environmentally and technologically aware Japanese homeowners is unabated. It is expected that during FY 2001 some 30 000 new residential systems will have been approved for installation.

At the government level, talks about a new law, possibly involving a renewable power portfolio, are well underway. Japan is well aware of its need to reduce reliance on oil imports, and with the public still cautious about further nuclear development, a future involving a significant renewables component would seem unavoidable.

These factors have not gone unnoticed by two of the world's top three PV manufacturers; Sharp and Kyocera appear very confident that demand for PV will continue to accelerate rapidly. Both have seemingly acknowledged that PV will be an important income stream in the near future and are aiming to retain their positions as market leaders by 'upgrading' their PV departments to independent business divisions. Sharp is reportedly aiming to double its annual production to 200 MW this year.

Contact:

• Osamu Ikki, RTS Co. Ltd.
  Fax: +81 (3) 3553 8954

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