《TAIPEI TIMES》Cabinet greenlights solar mandate for new rooftops

Staff writer, with CNA

The Cabinet yesterday approved a draft amendment proposing that all newly constructed, added or altered structures should have rooftop solar panels installed, a move intended to step up Taiwan’s drive to boost the use of renewable energy sources and help it achieve its goal of net carbon neutrality by 2050.

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Building owners can sell the electricity generated or use it themselves, the proposed amendment says.

Also approved were proposals to allow water storage facilities to be used to generate hydroelectricity, and another to define the authority and application procedure to survey geothermal power sources.

The proposed amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act （再生能源發展條例） would be submitted to the legislature for review, the Cabinet said.

Taiwan has a total installed solar capacity of 9.3 million kilowatt-hours, of which about 65 percent comes from rooftop solar panels, which are an area of development with great potential, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng （曾文生） told a news conference in Taipei.

If passed by the legislature, the draft amendment mandating rooftop solar panels would require them to be incorporated into building designs, circumventing the need for retrofitting and providing added insulation, Tseng said.

The proposed amendment would require the construction industry to make changes and the Ministry of Economic Affairs would work out the specifics of the proposed rules — such as when the rules would be promulgated — with the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the construction industry, he said.

Buildings that want to sell electricity to state-run Taiwan Power Co （台電） or private entities can do so under existing provisions in the act, he said.

Asked whether fines would be issued if excavation activity seeking geothermal energy sources in indigenous communities is started without permission, Tseng said provisions of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law （原住民族基本法） stipulate that proposed geothermal projects that do not have the consent of indigenous communities would not be approved.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES