Today's Close-Up S2023E24 - Power to the People: Home Solar Panels Tackle Rising Bills

With energy costs rising sharply, one Japanese family we caught up with has successfully halved their electricity bill thanks to solar panels and a storage battery. In Japan, the number of new installations of home solar panels peaked in 2012. But it has been increasing again in recent years in what's being called a "second phase." We look at the benefits being enjoyed in several real-world scenarios. We also report on a community effort where a private company remotely controls the solar panels and batteries of hundreds of households to stabilize the energy supply and create local autonomy.

Guest:
Iida Tetsunari (Founder & Chairperson, Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies)