Japan's photovoltaic industry in 2014 mixed

Looking back at 2014, Japan's photovoltaic industry can be described as mixed. The photovoltaic power stations were successively built in various places. As of March 2014, more than 1,000 photovoltaic power generation projects have been started. It is reported that in 2013 Japan's photovoltaic power generation system reached 2 trillion 500 billion yen (about 12.875 billion yuan).

The peak of photovoltaic power generation in Japan is still continuing and will soon reach a bubble. The company not only covers companies that promote photovoltaic power generation such as Kyocera, Toshiba, Sharp, Solarfrontier, but also ITOCHU Corporation, Softbank and other commercial companies and communications companies.

One of the main reasons for the “photovoltaic foam” is the higher price of the government-specified fixed price system (FIT). The purchase price of photovoltaic power generation is 10 KW or more. If it is operated for 20 years, it will be 32 yen (about 1.65 yuan) + tax, and if it is less than 10 KW, it will be 37 yen (about 191 million yuan) in 10 years. After the implementation of this system, the number of operators participating in the photovoltaic power generation industry has increased significantly and the bubble began to appear in 2014.

Photovoltaic power generation has soared from the projected 10 million KW to 68 million KW. The power company had to suspend the newly added photovoltaic power generation business.

In October 2014, five companies, Hokkaido Electric Power, Tohoku Electric Power, Shikoku Electric Power, Kyushu Electric Power and Okinawa Electric Power, decided to suspend the new photovoltaic power generation projects. The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has also begun to discuss the freezing of new large-scale photovoltaic power generation projects. In addition, the transmission and distribution equipment infrastructure business has not yet been trimmed into place. If the transmission system is not in place, there will be no use in generating more electricity. In particular, the repair of transmission equipment from the local to the cities and localities has not kept pace, which requires a large sum of money. After the freeze, Kyushu Power reopened the renewable energy power generation business of less than 50KW. Since then, various power companies have also redeveloped in turn. However, the issue of overcapacity and untrimmed transmission infrastructure has not yet been resolved.

In 2016, Japan will implement the liberalization of electricity, which can be limited to regional and unlimited regional power companies to sell electricity. Power companies can be freely selected, and other industries can freely participate in the power business.

The issue of nuclear power generation is not yet conclusive. For Japan, which is poorly resourced, the importance of photovoltaic power generation is self-evident, and Japan should shift to renewable energy as soon as possible. However, with regard to photovoltaic power generation, it is also doubtful whether it is necessary to add new resources based on the current situation. In the new year, perhaps we should calmly consider this issue.