Tokyo to Require Solar Panels on New Residential Buildings in 2025

Under the new regulations, large construction firms will be required to incorporate solar paneling into new homes with less than 2,000 square meters (21,527 square feet) of interior space. Approximately 50 companies fit the “large firm” bill, each supplying more than 20,000 square meters (215,278 square feet) of residential space per year. Early calculations estimate each home’s array of 4-kilowatt panels will cost about 980,000 yen ($7,200 USD), which the government says should pay for itself after approximately a decade of reduced energy bills and electricity sales revenue. This timeline might also be reduced to six years under an existing 100,000 yen ($728) per kW grant.

According to Tokyo’s Environmental Bureau, 70% of the city’s emissions come from buildings. With plans already underway to replace nearly half of Tokyo’s older residential facilities with new construction, the Bureau has an opportunity to ensure emerging residences emit less carbon than their predecessors. So far, only about 4% of Tokyo’s total buildings incorporate solar panels—a figure the Bureau hopes will increase as it pursues its goal of cutting the city’s emissions in half by 2030. By 2050, it hopes to reach zero emissions whatsoever.

That said, the regulations aren’t entirely motivated by “Zero Emission Tokyo.” The Bureau claims that solar-supplemented energy bills will help stave off cost-of-living concerns, which have been spiking in Japan as well as around the rest of the world. It also says those living in solar-equipped residences will be able to add a storage battery, which could provide energy during power outages.

Tokyo’s solar mandate closely follows that of France, which passed legislation requiring solar panels to be installed over larger parking lots back in November. Starting in mid-2023, businesses with 80 to 400 parking spaces will have five years to install solar panels over their lots. The mandate, which is expected to provide about 10 nuclear reactors’ worth of energy per year, came about after France was the only European Union member to miss its renewable energy goals.

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