Why did the solar power sector develop quickly in Japan?

The solar power sector grew quickly in Japan during the decade 1994 to 2003. During this period, annual installations increased 32-fold from 7MW in 1994 to 223MW in 2003, and annual production increased 22-fold, from 16MW in 1994 to 364MW in 2003. Over these years, the growth of Japan's solar power sector outpaced the global industry's growth, which is puzzling because Japan was in a recession during this period. At the same time, the U.S. was experiencing considerable economic expansion, yet the U.S. solar industry's growth was significantly slower than Japan's. This thesis focuses on the rapid development of Japan's solar power sector in order to address the central question, "Why did the solar power sector develop quickly in Japan?" To address this question, this thesis develops two comparative case studies: (1) Japan's solar power sector: 1994 to 2003 and (2) U.S. solar power sector: 1994 to 2003. These case studies provide detailed descriptions of the historical development of the solar power sectors in Japan and the U.S. based on data collected from International Energy Agency's PVPS program, Japan's New Energy Development Organization and the U.S. Energy Information Administration, among other sources.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Rogol, Michael G

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ernest Moniz and Rebecca Henderson.

• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39335

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/39335