Dec 30 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Kyodo News International, Tokyo

The Japanese government will aim for 30 percent of all households in the nation to have solar panels installed by 2030 as part of its efforts to fight global warming, government officials said Sunday.

Under the target, the number of solar-powered households would increase to 14 million from the current 400,000, and the capacity of such generation would expand 30-fold from the current 1.3 million kilowatts, the officials said.

The target will be incorporated into a program for innovative technologies to cut greenhouse gas emissions to be announced at the Group of Eight summit in July at the Lake Toya resort area of Hokkaido, they said.

In a bid to develop new, low-cost solar panels so ordinary households can install them, the government plans to convene experts from home and abroad to set up an international research institution in fiscal 2008, and is seeking 2 billion yen for the project in the fiscal 2008 budget, they said.

A standard panel for 3.7 kilowatts of solar power would produce enough energy for a family of four, but existing equipment for home use is priced as high as 2 million yen and a price reduction, including generation cost, is now a major challenge, the officials said.

Although Sharp Corp. and other Japanese manufacturers produce about half the world output of solar power equipment, their products are mostly for overseas markets, and domestic generation, including by businesses, totaled 1.71 million kilowatts in 2006, much less than that of the No. 1 Germany, they said.

The envisaged new panels would have several times higher energy efficiency and reduce the generating cost from the current 46 yen per kilowatt to 7 yen by 2030, which is almost the same level as the cost of thermal generation, the officials said.

Kyocera Corp. already has a plan to increase its equipment output threefold in fiscal 2010 in a move that would help cut initial costs to introduce solar power, they said.

The government will decide the location of the new research institute by accepting candidates from universities, colleges and research institutions, the officials said.

Aiming to create one of the world's leading solar-powered societies, the government is considering offering subsidies to businesses to introduce solar power at their office buildings and plants, they said.