Analysis of PV Subsidy Schemes, Installed Capacity and Their Electricity Generation in Japan

Kristina Knüpfer,Samuel Matthew G Dumlao,Keiichi N Ishihara,Miguel Esteban,Tomoya Shibayama

doi:10.3390/en14082128

Kristina Knüpfer, Samuel Matthew G Dumlao + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/en14082128

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Journal: Energies	Publication Date: Apr 11, 2021
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Waseda University, Kyoto University

Abstract

Solar PV capacity growth in Japan has been facilitated by a number of government schemes that have been implemented since 1994. Publicly available capacity data are provided by a number of agencies and organisations at various resolutions and at different stages within these schemes. This study provides a comprehensive review of solar PV data sources in Japan between 1994 and 2019, as well as an introduction to the subsidy schemes and organisations involved in scheme management and data collection in Japan. As a result, the authors produced their own dataset of installed capacities and generation across time for the various regions. Lastly, this study provides insights and recommendations to policy makers regarding opportunities for improving the accessibility and quality of data from a user perspective and to enhance Japan’s presence in international research.

Highlights

Renewable energy sources for electricity (RES-E) are being developed worldwide to decarbonise the economy and mitigate the effects of climate change [1]
As actual solar PV generation data are only available at the regional level, the capacity data were aggregated to this level to enable a direct comparison
The data used in the present research fulfils two of the three requirements for open data: the data archives run by the Japanese government permit the re-use and redistribution of data, as well as universal participation, i.e., anyone can use them for any purpose

Summary

Introduction

Renewable energy sources for electricity (RES-E) are being developed worldwide to decarbonise the economy and mitigate the effects of climate change [1]. Solar PV in Japan has 54 GW of installed capacity (i.e., similar to that of Germany), generating 7% of electricity as of 2019 [9] As a result, it has already reached its generation goal for 2030 [10]. It has already reached its generation goal for 2030 [10] This target for 2030 was quite unambitious as, in comparison, by the same year the USA aims for a 30–50% generation share from solar PV [11], the UK for 19–40.6 GW with no specific generation share target [12,13], and Germany for 100 GW and a 65% generation target for renewables as a whole [14]

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