Japan to promote solar power for households: Nikkei

The Japanese government will come up with measures on Tuesday to promote the household use of solar power systems by introducing subsidies and tax breaks from next year, the Nikkei financial daily reported on Sunday.

The paper said the steps, following an environment initiative announced earlier by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, include halving the cost of buying solar power systems in Japan, home to major solar component makers.
These include Sharp Corp, Kyocera Corp and Sanyo Electric Co.

The government also aims to introduce new legislation next year to require oil and gas firms to use a certain amount of cleaner energy, such as biofuels, from 2010 when making petroleum products and providing gas, Nikkei reported.

The paper said details of subsidies and tax cuts would be decided by the end of August, the deadline for budget requests by government offices for the next fiscal year starting on April 1.

The measures are expected to help cut the cost of a solar power system, which now sells for about 2.3 million yen ($21,440), to 1.1 million yen in three to five years, it added.

Reuters