Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) will add rooftop solar reporting items to the Energy Conservation Act framework from fiscal 2027, requiring large-scale energy users to disclose roof area eligible for solar installation after exclusions, alongside area already equipped.
The new reporting items apply to designated energy users – companies, local governments, schools, hospitals, and other entities consuming more than 1,500 kiloliters of crude oil equivalent per year – who are already obligated to submit medium- and long-term energy plans and annual energy reports under the Energy Conservation Act.
Two changes take effect on a staggered schedule. From fiscal 2026, medium- and long-term plans must include qualitative statements on rooftop solar installation. From fiscal 2027, annual energy reports must include roof area eligible for installation after applying exclusion conditions, and the area already equipped. Roofs where installation is legally prohibited, where the operator lacks installation rights, or where the space is already in use – for example as evacuation areas – are excluded from the reported figures.
ANRE cited growing opposition to large-scale ground-mounted solar over environmental, safety, and landscape concerns as one factor behind the focus on rooftops, which require no new land and carry lower community impact. Japan’s Seventh Strategic Energy Plan, approved by the cabinet in February 2025, positions renewable energy as a major power source on the path to carbon neutrality by 2050.
The agency also noted that perovskite solar cells could open rooftop deployment to buildings where conventional silicon panels are too heavy. Film-type perovskite cells are thin, light, and flexible, the agency said, making them a candidate for roofs with strict load-bearing limits.
Existing support mechanisms including Japan’s feed-in tariff and feed-in premium schemes, as well as government energy efficiency audit programs, are available to businesses considering installation, said ANRE.
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