The Cabinet has approved a plan to subsidize the construction and design costs of residential rooftop solar systems, starting next year, as part of its efforts to boost solar power generation.
A stimulus package introduced yesterday would offer subsidies to households installing rooftop solar systems, covering 40 percent of construction costs and 100 percent of design costs, from next year to 2020, Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said.
The government would also offer subsidies for the construction of public solar power stations in remote areas and Aboriginal lands, covering 100 percent of design costs, Shen said.
Photo: CNA
It would offer a subsidy of up to NT$600,000 for each power station for the construction of power lines, and would promise to purchase the extra electricity generated, Shen added.
The package is part of the government’s efforts to phase out nuclear power and increase the share of renewable energy to 20 percent of the nation’s power supplies by 2025.
The government hopes to increase the power generation capacity of rooftop solar systems from 410 megawatts at present to 3,000 megawatts by 2020, Shen said.
Photo: CNA
The government would first target homes with the goal of converting communities into solar power plants, and then encourage people living in remote areas to install rooftop solar systems and build public power stations, he said.
It would also require private companies that consume more than 800 kilowatts of electricity per month to construct rooftop solar power systems, Shen said.
“The domestic market will be bolstered with the development of rooftop systems. The solar panel industry, iron factories, electricians and the shipping industry will all benefit,” Shen said.
The package also eases building restrictions on illegal rooftop structures.
Owners of illegal structures would not be able to apply for a license to build solar systems, but the Cabinet is planning to lift the ban to allow solar panels to be placed on such structures if the combined height does not exceed 4.5m, Deputy Minister of the Interior Hua Ching-chun (花敬群) said.
“However, that does not mean illegal structures will be legalized. Those structures are still illegal even if they are topped with solar panels, but the solar panels could be kept even if the structures are demolished,” Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) said that the growth of renewable energy can create jobs and increase Taiwan’s global influence.
The Cabinet also plans to establish a legal platform to eliminate gray areas in the law for start-ups and innovators in a bid to build a friendly investment environment.
The platform, to be led by the National Development Council, is to smooth out legal uncertainties encountered by businesses that are developing a new business model.
The Cabinet said that in principle it would allow everything that is not prohibited by the law.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts