Almost one in 11 towns and villages in Japan restrict or altogether ban development of utility-scale solar on their territory. Such caution is increasingly at odds with the national strategy to put renewables at the core of Japan’s future energy mix.

As the central government adds new laws and targets that mandate local progress towards decarbonization, regional populations are pushing back. Locals claim some solar developments are an eyesore and a burden in times of natural disasters.

With under-staffed and under-funded local governments caught in the middle, something will have to give – and soon – if Japan is to maintain its renewables growth rate. The pace of growth in solar projects is already starting to lag.