TOKYO —

The government will start accepting applications in mid-January for subsidies for installing household solar power generation systems, government officials said Thursday. For the first time in three years, Japan will resume providing subsidies to help households use solar power generation. If certain conditions are met, 70,000 yen per kilowatt of generation capacity will be provided in subsidies, the officials said.
   
A standard solar power generation system for household use in Japan costs about 2.3 million yen and has an output capacity of some 3 kilowatts. Applications for solar power subsidies for this fiscal year will be received between Jan 13 and March 31 next year, the officials said. The government has set the goal of increasing solar power generation in Japan by 10 times from current levels by 2020 and 40 times by 2030. At the end of 2007, only about 400,000 households had solar power generation systems in Japan, it said.

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  scoobydoo at 12:28 PM JST - 25th December

  Bit of a waste. Had solar and got the Govt subsidy then when the subsidy was removed the solar companies just lowered their price by the same or more and the return on investment worked out at about 19 years anyway. Guessing the companies will just increase their price by the subsidy and get more profit.

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  presto345 at 07:23 PM JST - 25th December

  Guessing the companies will just increase their price by the subsidy and get more profit.

  Well, that's OK. This provides funds for R&D and it keeps the companies in business. The panels last almost indefinitely (in terms of a human life that is) and even if one is not going to enjoy big savings, doing something for the environment feels good. I had a 3.48 Kw system installed in 1999, which had a price sticker of 3.2 million yen. The subsidy was 1.1 million yen! The system provides approximately 50% of our electrical power needs (we don't use gas for cooking or heating). I know some people in Europe who are more than 100% self sufficient for their electricity needs, but they have city heating.

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