Sunset over Tokyo, Japan
In Ota City, about 50 miles north of Tokyo, Japan, the world’s first solar powered city has been taking shape. In this area of the Gunma Prefecture, the government issued free solar panels to most of the residents of the Pal Town neighborhood in an effort to see whether blackouts can be minimized by a steady stream of solar power. In fact, three-quarters of the people that live there have solar panels installed on their living quarters.
The state-backed study began in 2002, and is funded by 9.7 billion yen (close to $100 million). Drawn by the promise of low utility bills, many people have moved to “Solar City” in the past few years. Pal Town was selected as a prime location for the solar panel experiment because it is one of the sunniest places in the country.
Japanese village in Gokayama
So, nearly 7 years after the study began, what is the verdict? Should we all be living in a solar powered city?
As noted in a Reuter‘s article in November 2008, there are some notable downsides to the Pal Town experiment:
“[Solar] power is unreliable in cloudy Japan. At high noon in sunny weather, a 4-kilowatt rooftop power generator produces more than enough power to run a typical household. But in cloudy weather, the power generated is less than half.” Officials also say that without a comprehensive strategy involving both corporations and local government, expanding the solar grid to other parts of the country would be difficult.”
But try telling that to the residents of Pal Town. They want to keep their solar panels after the experiment ends next year. And Japan is continuing efforts to expand solar power across its country. Tax subsidies have been passed which will cover 10% of the installation costs. Estimates are that at least another 100,000 homes in the country will install solar panels this year as a result.
Japan also continues to strive to achieve global dominance in the PV market. A leader in technology, through firms such as Sharp, Sanyo Electric and Kyocera, it has lost ground in market share over the past 10 years.
A successful Japanese solar powered city may be just the thing for it to regain market share in this growing industry. If the residents are not willing to part with their panels, that should say quite a bit about the experiment. Now would be the time to coordinate local governments and industries to work on expanding the solar grid beyond Pal Town. I don’t think that a few inclement weather days should cloud the future of solar power in Japan.
Tags: japan solar, Pal Town, solar powered city
