Japan plans solar panels for all new buildings  

AFP reports that Japan is considering requiring all new buildings to have solar panels installed - Japan plans solar panels for all new buildings.

Japan is considering a plan that would make it compulsory for all new buildings and houses to come fitted with solar panels by 2030, a business daily said Sunday. The plan, expected to be unveiled at the upcoming G8 Summit in France, aims to show Japan's resolve to encourage technological innovation and promote the wider use of renewable energy, the Nikkei daily said.

Japan has reeled from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the nuclear crisis they triggered as it battles to stabilise the crippled Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant.

Mitsubishi Corp is looking to build large-scale solar power plants in Japan, ahead of the start of a national feed-in tariff program, the Nikkei business daily said.

The company has selected Kumamoto Prefecture as a prospective site. The facility would have an output of more than 1 megawatt, with an initial investment of about 600-700 million yen ($7.5-$8.7 million) per megawatt, the Nikkei said. Talks on large-scale solar projects are also under way with other local governments, the daily reported.

At the national level, the proposed feed-in tariff would create guaranteed demand for all of the output from renewable energy projects. The government has put forward legislation aimed at starting the incentive program next fiscal year, the paper said.