"According to a new report from the Japan Photovoltaic
Energy Association, domestic shipments of solar cells and modules have risen by
80% in the July-September quarter of this year. This is on the heels of the
Japanese government enacting an ambitious solar energy incentive initiative, a
feed-in tariff (known as net energy metering in California) that
aims to help support the adoption of solar energy throughout the country.
The feed-in tariff was introduced in the wake of the Fukushima
disaster of 2011, when a powerful earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear
crisis in Northern Japan. After the disaster, the government made moves to
abandon nuclear power. While moving away from nuclear energy has proven to be a
slow and laborious process, the country has been keen to aggressively replace
nuclear with other forms of alternative energy that are considered safer. Solar
energy has, thus far, become one of the country’s most favored forms of
alternative energy for this purpose."
