Loans for Solar PV Power Projects Surge in Japan - SolarStar

The number of low-interest rate loans for solar pv  power generation and other green energy projects provided by Japan Finance Corp. grew 5.6-fold from the previous year to 1,349 in fiscal 2011, the state-owned loan corporation said Wednesday.

The surge can mostly be attributed to a rise in interest from small and midsize companies as well as individual business owners in installing power generators amid fears about electricity supply shortages following last year‘s accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.‘s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the government-affiliated lender said.

The loans for non-fossil energy projects totaled 7.9 billion yen in the year that ended in March, up 2.7-fold from a year ago.

In particular, real estate developers in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures in eastern Japan as well as the central prefecture of Shizuoka actively used the loan program to install solar pv panels  at their apartment buildings.

"Amid concerns about rolling blackouts in TEPCO’s service areas and a huge earthquake expected in the Tokai area off the coast of Shizuoka, an increasing number of developers introduced solar pv panels in the hope of attracting more tenants," a JFC official explained.

Inquiries about the loan program "have been on the rise across the country" as Japan braces for tight power supplies this summer due to shutdowns of the country’s nuclear power plants. The corporation expects such trends to continue this year.

The JFC‘s lending for purchases of hybrid vehicles are also growing, bringing the total amount of loans in the field of environment and energy to 53 billion yen in fiscal 2011, up 17 pct from the previous year.