Tag - solar

 
 

SOLAR

A rapid adoption of solar panels by homeowners in Japan has created new targets for aggressive sales tactics and outright scams.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2025
Consumer watchdog warns of solar panel inspection scams
The number of homes equipped with solar panels has skyrocketed in recent years, creating new targets for aggressive sales tactics.
Solar panels at the Baofeng Agriculture-Photovoltaic Integration Industrial Base near Yinchuan, Ningxia autonomous region, China
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 27, 2025
China’s solar self-discipline spurs turnaround at silicon makers
The recovery saw a 50% surge in polysilicon prices after Beijing began lambasting cutthroat atmosphere in tech sectors such as solar.
New industry minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks during an interview at the ministry on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2025
Minister eyes stricter regulations on large-scale solar farms
Ryosei Akazawa has pointed out that improperly installed mega solar power plants pose challenges for local communities.
Nissan project leader Junichi Inoue stands in front of the company's prototype electric minivehicle that can be charged using an onboard solar power generation system, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Oct. 15.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2025
Nissan develops solar-powered electric minivehicle
The vehicle can eliminate the need for grid-based charging if used mainly for short-distance driving including for commuting or shopping.
Solar panels at the Gujarat Solar Park in Gujarat, India
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Oct 8, 2025
Global renewable power output overtakes coal for the first time, report says
Curbing coal power generation is regarded as vital by most scientists to meeting global climate targets.
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 6, 2025
Japan’s new leader to make nuclear center of energy strategy
A pro-nuclear stance would continue the policies of previous administrations, which have pushed to build new units and restart reactors.
China is reshaping the global energy landscape by pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy investments across the Global South, creating jobs and long-term influence on a scale comparable to the Marshall Plan.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2025
China is winning its power play for the Global South
Beijing’s green energy projects are bringing jobs, growth and cheap electricity to the developing world.
Heliostat mirrors at the site of Dunhuang Shouhang 100MW Tower Solar Thermal Power Generation Project in Gansu province, China, on Oct. 16, 2024
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 10, 2025
China’s green tech firms pour billions into overseas factories
Chinese companies are expanding their supply chains abroad to capture new markets, avoid tariffs and get closer to sources of raw materials, according to new research.
A water-based solar farm operated by the China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group on the outskirts of Jiaxing, China, in 2018
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Sep 9, 2025
China’s green push may cut global fossil use by 2030, says think tank
"China’s surge in renewables and whole-economy electrification is rapidly reshaping energy choices for the rest of the world," Ember said.
A worker wearing protective equipment walks near the Electric Arc Furnace at the 7 Steel facility in Cardiff, Wales, on July 18.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 28, 2025
Sky-high electricity costs hindering the U.K.'s progress toward net zero
Energy bills have stripped firms of money to improve efficiency, deterred the shift to lower-carbon power sources and made wind-farm, pylon and battery production less competitive.
Workers carry solar panels to install them at a solar farm in the desert in Lingwu, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, in April.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2025
The world’s biggest polluter is cleaning up its act
Coal output is still climbing, but China’s clean power surge means much of it now sits in stockpiles rather than fueling growth.
Wind turbines beyond an array of solar panels on the hillside in the Canical district of Madeira, Portugal, on Feb. 9, 2023. Renewables are now among the cheapest forms of electricity, especially after an energy crunch and the Ukraine war bolstered gas, oil and coal.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 11, 2025
Hedge funds flip on green energy and start betting against oil
The outlook for solar and wind stocks is starting to improve.
Journalists next to heliostat mirrors at the site of Dunhuang Shouhang 100 megawatt Tower Solar Thermal Power Generation Project in Gansu province, China, in 2024
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 5, 2025
China struggles to capitalize on record renewables build-out as grid work lags
The biggest renewables hubs, in the sparsely populated interior, rely on power lines stretching thousands of kilometers to the major cities of the east.
Workers carry solar panels to install them at a solar farm in the desert in Lingwu, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, on April 14.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 4, 2025
China's solar giants quietly shed a third of their workforces last year
The trend shows how one of Beijing's hand-picked industries to drive economic growth struggled with overcapacity and tepid demand.
A technician works on the assembly line at a solar panel manufacturing hub on the outskirts of New Delhi last October.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jul 27, 2025
Amid fossil fuel shift in U.S., hope emerges for India and Japan tie-up on solar
As the Trump administration shifts back to gas and coal, solar power stakeholders in Japan and India are seeking new ways to collaborate.
Batam, a duty-free Indonesian enclave a short ferry ride from Singapore, has become a key waypoint in a convoluted global shuffle involving Chinese solar panels and U.S. tariffs.
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2025
China’s stealthy solar exports stay one step ahead of U.S. tariffs
Of Indonesia’s 10 biggest exporters of solar cells and panels to the U.S. during the first half of 2025, six in Batam were found to be owned by executives at Chinese companies.
Yukihiro Kaneko, a Panasonic research officer, shows a perovskite panel, through which the background can been seen, during an interview in Tokyo.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2025
Japan sees bright future for ultrathin and flexible solar panels
The government is offering generous incentives in order to reach Japan's target of having renewable energy cover up to 50% of electricity demand by 2040.
Solar power more than doubled to 24% of Pakistan's energy mix in the first five months of 2025, becoming the largest source of energy production for the first time.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jul 17, 2025
Pakistan's quiet solar rush puts pressure on national grid
Solar power more than doubled to 24% of Pakistan's energy mix in the first five months of 2025, becoming the largest source of energy production for the first time.
Solar panels and wind turbines at the Huaneng Binzhou new energy power generation project in China's eastern Shandong province on June 11
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jul 3, 2025
China leading BRICS clean-energy boom with shift into solar, report shows
Most countries in BRICS remain major fossil fuel producers, but the group together produced 51% of the world’s solar energy in 2024 — up from 15% a decade earlier.
A wind turbine at CS Wind in Pueblo, Colorado, in 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 1, 2025
Solar and wind industries see existential threat in U.S. tax bill
The moves by the Senate, as it seeks to cut spending to offset trillions of dollars in tax cuts, "came out of left field” and shocked the industry.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes