Japanese sell more solar power back to utilities

Japanese small solar panel owners  sold 50 percent more power to utilities last year than in 2010.

Owners sold a total 2,150 gigawatt hours to power utilities last year, helped by the government scheme.

The data showed Japan's 10 regional power companies spent a total 96 billion yen or $1.2 billion for surplus solar power from house owners and small businesses last year via a feed-in tariff scheme, which requires them to buy such power, reports Reuters.

Last year's purchase volume is equivalent to 0.24 percent of sales from the power companies of some 884,000 gigawatt hours a year on average in the three years to March 2011.

In 2010, power companies bought 1,400 gigawatt hours of such surplus solar power via the same scheme.

When a full-fledged scheme applying any electricity from solar, wind, small hydro, biomass and geothermal power plants is launched in July, the existing one will remain but cover surplus power from solar panel owners of up to 10 kilowatts only.

Currently, regional power firms pay 48 yen per kilowatt hour for surplus electricity from solar panel owners of less than 10 kilowatts and 24 yen for surplus power from owners of 10 to 500 kilowatts, and allowed to add on the extra costs to all users in the same region evenly.

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Tags: solar power, utilities, small solar panel owners, households, small businesses, government scheme, renewable energy policy