As Extreme Storms Wreck Power Grids, Japan Seeks Home Battery Networks
- Tariffs for about 11 GW of rooftop solar to start expiring
- Adding home battery storage would help create backup systems
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After recent typhoons ravaged Japan’s grid and disrupted power to almost 1.4 million customers, the government is encouraging homeowners to invest in storage systems, seeking to marry batteries with existing rooftop solar capacity to create backup electricity networks.
The backbone would be the 2.3 million rooftop solar installations across the country that have been selling power to the grid for years under long-term contracts. As those deals begin to lapse, with the first batch expiring this month, policy makers in Tokyo see an opportunity to create networks more resistant to disruptions, which are expected to become more frequent amid climate change.