Global Solar Energy Boom

Solar power is set to become profitable in Japan, as early as this quarter,
. . . according to the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation (JREF),
. . . freeing it from the need for government subsidies, and
. . . making it the last of the G7 economies,
. . . where the technology has become economically viable.

Japan is now one of the world's 4 largest markets for solar panels, and
. . . a large number of power plants are coming onstream,
. . . including 2 giant arrays over water in Kato City, and
. . . a $1.1 billion solar farm being built on a salt field in Okayama,
. . . both west of Osaka.

Japan is retiring nearly 2.4 gigawatts of expensive, and
. . . polluting oil-fired energy plants by March next year, and
. . . switching to alternative fuels.
Japan's 43 nuclear reactors have been closed,
. . . in the wake of the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima power plant,
. . . after an earthquake and a tsunami,
. . . since then, renewable energy capacity has tripled to,
. .. 25 gigawatts, with solar accounting for more than 80% of that.

04-26-2015 Source:  Global Solar Energy Boom