Panasonic to focus on rooftop PV to boost panel sales - report

Aug 26, 2013 - Japan’s Panasonic Corp (TYO:6752) aims to sell 25% more solar modules in fiscal 2013/14 year by focusing on the rooftop solar segment, Bloomberg said Friday, citing the head of its solar segment as saying.

In fiscal 2012/13 ended March the firm sold 540 MW of photovoltaic (PV) panels.

Kazuhiro Yoshida told Bloomberg in an interview that the electronics maker was now looking to sell its solar panels for rooftop systems as developers are more often opting for such schemes as it is hard to find suitable land for ground-mounted plants. He explained that rooftop solar projects are becoming more popular as developers do not need to acquire land and already have available transmission lines.

Panasonic estimates that as much as 5 GW of solar cells can be installed this fiscal year in Japan, with some 3.5 GW of the total going for projects of under 50 kW.

Solar project developers in Japan take advantage of the opportunities presented after the government launched ample feed-in tariffs (FiT) for renewables in July 2012. After April 1, the subsidy was lowered to JPY 37.8 (USD 0.383/EUR 0.286) per kWh from JPY 42 per kWh as a response to falling equipment and construction expenses. Despite the cut, the FiTs remain quite attractive to both local and international solar firms.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, between 6.9 GW and 9.4 GW of solar capacity can be added this year in Japan, making it the largest consumer of solar technology.

(JPY 100 = USD 1.013/EUR 0.757)

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