JPEC listing is considered the biggest hurdle for a foreign company to enter Japan’s residential solar market. In addition to eligibility for Japanese solar subsidies, JPEC-listed products give customers the confidence that the products meet Japan’s high-quality standards and safety requirements and are fully compatible with the country’s electric grid.
To obtain JPEC listing, ReneSola has partnered with local suppliers to provide a PV home kit solution that includes 125-square and 156-square monocrystalline modules with an inverter, monitor and racking system to the Japan market. The Company expects these products to be JPEC-listed in March 2013.
JPEC listing is expected for additional ReneSola products, including the Company’s 250 W poly module, in the near future.
Apart from China, ReneSola had been focusing greatly in Europe; however, the company is now shifting its focus to emerging markets like Japan, says Xianshou Li, ReneSola’s chief executive officer.
The government of Japan has announced a national feed-in tariff (FiT) for solar, creating robust public policy to drive deployment of renewable energy. The new policy effective July 2012 is driving the solar market in Japan.
The market is expected to grow to 2.3-2.5 GW this year and 3.0GW in 2013. Japan’s new policy has mandated power utilities to pay above-market rates for electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as solar.
Recently ReneSola also announced its entry in Indian market. Apart from these, ReneSola is expanding to other countries like South Africa and the United States. Last year the company also started manufacturing in Taiwan.
ReneSola will introduce its new PV home kit solution at the 6th International Photovoltaic Power Generation Expo (“PV Expo 2013”), which is being held at Tokyo Big Sight from February 27th to March 1st, 2013.
China, Japan, India, and Australia to account for 90% of solar PV demand in APAC in 2013: NPD Solarbuzz
Solar photovoltaic (PV) demand from the Asia Pacific (APAC) region is forecast to grow to 13.5 GW in 2013, growing 50 percent YoY, according to the NPD Solarbuzz Q1’13 Asia Pacific Major PV Markets Quarterly report. China, Japan, India, and Australia remain dominant for PV demand in the APAC region, and they will account for 90 percent of APAC solar PV demand, according to the report.