Tokyo will require new housing developments to install solar panels beginning in 2025

New homes being built in Tokyo will need solar panels installed by April 2025. Kyodo News Report. The local assembly passed new regulations Major construction companies must equip homes less than 2,000 square metres (21,500 feet) with solar panels and other renewable power sources. This measure, which is unique in Japan, aims to reduce the city’s carbon emissions by half.

Based on existing grants of 100,000 yen ($728) and utility bill savings, the government estimates that the $980,000 yen ($7200) cost of a 4kW installation will be recouped within six years. Other subsidies will help reduce leasing costs, according to an information-packed slide deck (PDF).

This measure is only applicable to 50 builders that supply more than 20,000 square metres (2215,000 feet) to the market. It’s unclear how many new homes will be affected by the new rules. However, the Tokyo government has estimated that by 2050, half of all existing buildings, 70% of which are homes, will be replaced by new construction.

From 2012 to 2021, Japan saw an average of 800,000 to 900,000 new constructions per year. A few major contractors were called Super Zenecon According to Statista.

Japan is the fifth-largest producer of carbon emissions in the world, and has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050. It isn’t the only country that mandates solar installations. France has its own legislature. recently approved A bill was introduced that required parking lots with at least 80 spaces to include solar panels. The French government said the plan, aimed primarily at parking lots off freeways and major routes, could generate up to 11 gigawatts — the equivalent of 10 nuclear reactors.