Solar power output to rise 55 times from current level in Japan by 2030
The Japan Ministry of the Environment estimates that solar power production in Japan could rise to 55 times the current output by 2030, ministry officials said. By the ministry’s calculations, this could spur total solar energy output to around 37,000 megawatts by 2020, and 79,000 megawatts by 2030, 55 times current levels. However, should subsidies for new equipment and the purchase of excess power continue in their present form, solar energy production would rise to only 7,900 megawatts by 2020.
This, in combination with the spread of other renewable energy sources, would see carbon dioxide emissions drop 8 percent from 1990 levels. With the wide-scale adoption of the feed-in tariff system, the ministry also predicted that monthly electric bills would rise by an average of 258 yen per household, and a maximum of 341 yen per household, over the 2011-2030 period from the current level, if power companies passed on the cost of buying up renewable energy to consumers
