Greenpeace Taiwan on Monday urged neighborhoods to allow Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to generate solar power on their rooftops in a bid to help the company transition to renewable energy.
Twenty-five borough wardens near the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) have already signed the pledge, offering more than 900 hectares of rooftop, Greenpeace said.
The figure is equivalent to 455 Taipei Arenas and could potentially generate 1 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per year, it added.
Photo: Lin Ching-hua, Taipei Times
In a May survey of residents in Taichung, Tainan, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, 61 percent said that Taiwan’s energy transition would go faster with semiconductor firms taking the lead, Greenpeace said.
Another 46 percent said they would be willing to install solar panels on their buildings and sell the excess electricity to TSMC and other semiconductor firms, it said.
Currently, owners of rooftop solar panels can get nearly NT$5 per kWh of electricity sold back to Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), Taiwan Photovoltaic Industry Association managing chairman Chen Kun-hung (陳坤宏) said, adding that the price is generally high since each roof needs a customized install and cannot accommodate many panels.
The biggest obstacle to net metering at the moment is administrative procedure, which was drafted for large solar farms, Chen said.
Although each rooftop could only produce about 1 percent of a solar farm’s total output, each household must apply individually, he said.
As a first step, Chen suggested that local governments adopt a “regulatory sandbox” framework to allow boroughs and residents to apply jointly, with TSMC as the purchaser.
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