Government will increase photovoltaic power supply

The government will expand the mandatory amount of photovoltaic power supply by 300 megawatts for 2014 through 2015 and introduce a rental system for solar energy to promote consumption of renewable energy.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said yesterday it decided to increase the supply in order to help ease financial burdens on consumers who use solar power and boost profits of solar businesses.

Despite oversupply in the photovoltaic industry, the government-led Renewable Portfolio Standard system launched last year requires companies to produce a certain percentage of solar energy, which has turned out to be a restriction on the industry.

Solar companies saw sales plummet by about 42 percent plunge in the first quarter this year compared to the same period last year, the ministry said.

The government has decided to ramp up the total amount to 1.5 gigawatts by 2015.

Along with the eased restriction, the ministry will allow specialized photovoltaic businesses to provide rental services for ordinary households, which will help cut their spending on power use by a sixth and the costs of initial installation.

“The latest plan would help both the industry and consumers,” said a ministry official. “Consumers will be able to produce power on their own at 20 percent lower cost.”