Japanese Industry Minister Yukio Edano has approved a feed-in tariff (FIT) for solar energy and other forms of renewable energy. The FIT will go into effect July 1 and last up to 20 years, Reuters reports.
The rate for solar power systems will be 42 yen (approximately $0.53)/kWh. With the help of the FIT, Japan's solar capacity is expected to rise from less than 5 GW to approximately 19 GW by 2016, according to figures from CLSA cited by Reuters.
Currently, nearly 90% of Japan's electricity is derived from oil, coal and gas, following the shutoff of the company's 50 nuclear reactors after last year's disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
