Rooftop solar progress stalls; environmental groups criticize ministries for favoring farmland and salt pans over rooftops

Ground-mounted solar power is mired in controversy, making the promotion of rooftop solar all the more urgent. In July this year, legislator Hung Sun-han held a solar power public hearing, demanding that the Ministry of Economic Affairs and other ministries report on their inventory of rooftop solar potential and promotion policies. At the time, the inventories compiled by various ministries were very low, triggering widespread protests from environmental groups. The Executive Yuan subsequently established a task force requiring ministries to properly inventory idle spaces, but two months later, progress remains stalled.

The government's original rooftop solar target was 3GW, which was reached ahead of schedule in 2019, so the Bureau of Energy of the Ministry of Economic Affairs raised the target to 6GW. Today (the 22nd), 28 civil environmental groups jointly signed a petition and held a press conference, calling for rooftop solar potential to be recognized as far more than 6GW, and sternly demanding that the Executive Yuan raise the target again and establish a "Rooftop Solar Special Task Force" at the level of a vice premier or minister without portfolio.

Environmental groups: Rooftop solar is the least controversial, has already met targets ahead of schedule, and its potential is absolutely more than 6GW

On September 8, Premier Su Tseng-chang attended the general meeting of the Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation System Commercial Association. He stated at the meeting that to continue promoting solar power, the Executive Yuan would establish a cross-ministerial task force, chaired by Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin. Su Tseng-chang also asked relevant ministries to inventory idle spaces such as land and rooftops suitable for solar power development.

Looking back at the July solar power controversy public hearing, the Council of Agriculture, which has the fewest rooftops, turned out to be the ministry that had installed the most rooftop solar. Other ministries such as the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and the Ministry of Education had not even completed their inventories, let alone seriously met targets. This year, the planned installation capacity on public facilities directly under ministries other than the Council of Agriculture barely adds up to 1GW, and inventories of private buildings and factory facilities are almost nonexistent, with all ministries using various excuses to stall progress.

To this end, environmental groups held a press conference calling for action, noting that rooftop solar has the smallest environmental impact and controversy, and its potential is far more than 6GW. They hope the government will quickly ramp up rooftop solar so that the public can regain trust in solar power and promote energy transition.

Tsai Chung-yueh, deputy chief executive of the Citizens of the Earth Foundation, pointed out that a large amount of solar power has recently encroached on leopard cat habitat in Miaoli and ecologically sensitive salt pan areas in Jiangjun, Tainan, and the day before yesterday, 10,000 people signed a petition against a solar project in Zhiben, Taitung. These controversies all demonstrate that ground-mounted solar lacks a complete review mechanism. "All the environmental groups present support phasing out nuclear and coal, but green energy must be placed in the right locations. Rooftop solar still has potential, absolutely more than 6GW."

The Ministry of Economic Affairs is in charge of domestic energy but has not proposed an inventory or timeline; environmental groups call it a disgrace

Nearly three months have passed since the July public hearing, and according to assessments by civil groups, the performance of various ministries remains disappointing. Tsai Hui-hsun, director of the Citizens of the Earth Foundation, stated that civil groups assess based on three criteria: whether ministry-managed buildings have been inventoried and targets set, whether other public and private buildings have been inventoried, and a review of the current status of promotion strategies. The results show that except for the Council of Agriculture, other ministries are seriously lagging behind.

Tsai Hui-hsun first named the Ministry of Economic Affairs, noting that the Bureau of Energy, which oversees domestic energy planning, has not proactively responded since the July public hearing, nor has it reviewed rooftop solar targets or reasonably adjusted feed-in tariff rates. The Industrial Development Bureau should propose rooftops on all types of industrial zones and factories nationwide where solar can be installed, yet it has not even inventoried industrial zones and factory rooftops under county and city governments or private management. Even for export processing zones and state-owned enterprises under central government control (such as China Steel and CPC Corporation), there are only vague statistics and installation figures, with no target timeline.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs has currently installed only 837.9 MW of rooftop solar. Tsai Hui-hsun stated that the ministry should inventory major electricity consumers nationwide and calculate how many rooftops need to be installed to meet targets, yet it only says an additional 500 MW will be installed before 2025, without explaining where or how. "The Bureau of Energy is under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and performing like this is just too disgraceful!"

Ministry of Transportation and Communications inventoried over 7,000 office buildings, and nearly 95% were deemed unsuitable for installation

Compared to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is passive and reactive. Tsai Hui-hsun explained that of the 7,097 office buildings directly managed by the MOTC (such as train stations), 6,691 were deemed unsuitable for installation after inventory, with reasons including building leaks, planned reconstruction within 20 years, or lack of ownership. "These are all excuses. If they really wanted to do it, they would take this opportunity to resolve the issues and set timelines."

In addition to office buildings, of the 1,299 post offices nationwide, the MOTC only planned to install rooftop solar on 12 this year. Tsai Hui-hsun stated that the MOTC's reason is that some post offices share buildings with others, for example, a post office on the first floor and a clothing store on the second floor. But in fact, of these 1,299 post offices, more than 500 are standalone buildings. Furthermore, parking lots, highways, tourist area facilities, pedestrian and bicycle paths nationwide that the public believes should be prioritized for installation have not been inventoried either. Tsai Hui-hsun questioned the MOTC: "Do you really have the heart to do this?"

Ministry of Education inventory inaccurate; no explanation of how to integrate with curriculum guidelines, sports, and greening

The MOTC is passive and reactive, while the Ministry of Education's inventory is inaccurate. Li Pei-hsuan, specialist at the Homemakers United Foundation Environmental Protection Foundation, explained that the Ministry of Education claims over 80% of universities and colleges have installed solar, when in fact it's just partial rooftop installations on a few dozen buildings at the same school. "Currently there is no visible target amount, nor a comprehensive inventory of potential rooftops."

Li Pei-hsuan stated that campus rooftop solar helps cool school buildings, but the Ministry of Education has not explained how it tracks solar progress at primary and secondary schools, nor has it provided any installation guidelines. "Campus solar installation is also part of energy education. How it integrates with the 108 curriculum guidelines and balances sports and greening needs to be clearly explained by the Ministry of Education."

Ministry of the Interior inventory passive; Council of Agriculture makes the fastest progress

The Ministry of the Interior also has an inaccurate inventory. Li Pei-hsuan explained that for the funeral and interment land, green energy communities, social housing, sewage treatment plants, and other ministry-managed assets under the Ministry of the Interior, target amounts are set extremely low, and there is a lack of overall potential inventory. For example, ministry-managed assets only list 11 locations including the Central Police University and National Fire Agency, and for sewage treatment plants only 4 building rooftops are mentioned, without any inventory of buildings under county, city, and township offices or private residential and commercial buildings. Social housing has been discussed for incorporating solar into the second phase of the greenhouse gas control plan, but lacks maintenance and management, which may affect power generation efficiency in the future.

The Council of Agriculture is the only ministry that has properly inventoried rooftops of livestock and poultry houses, storage facilities, etc., and has currently reached 4,282 MW, far exceeding other ministries. Environmental groups present all expressed approval of the Council of Agriculture, but also reminded that when converting open-air fish ponds to indoor aquaculture facilities and installing rooftop solar, the impact on ecological use and cumulative effects must first be assessed.

Legislator: Competent authorities need to change their mindset and incorporate solar into future spatial planning

DPP legislator Hung Sun-han stated that the original 3GW rooftop solar target was carried over from the Ma administration, and reaching this target ahead of schedule in 2019 shows that past assessments were not rigorous enough. Although the target was raised to 6GW after being met, based on existing data, the target should be set even higher.

Hung Sun-han explained that installing rooftop solar is not simply laying solar panels on rooftops. Each building's space has its own planning. To get ministries to promote rooftop solar, the mindset of each competent authority must first change: how to incorporate solar panel installation into existing spatial planning. For example, installing solar on campus rooftops may require adjusting existing hardware and wiring to install successfully.

Civil groups' three major demands: require the Executive Yuan to establish a rooftop solar task force and raise the overall rooftop solar target

Civil groups put forward three major demands at the press conference: 1. Raise the overall rooftop solar target and each ministry's KPI; 2. Establish a "Rooftop Solar Special Task Force" at the level of a vice premier or minister without portfolio; 3. Comprehensively inventory rooftop solar potential, hold public hearings, and combine with citizen power plants.

Wei Yang, researcher at the Green Citizens' Action Alliance, stated that 28 civil groups have jointly signed the petition, demanding the Executive Yuan take these demands seriously. He called on all ministries to re-inventory total rooftop capacity, discuss potential assessment standards, genuinely review the current situation, difficulties encountered, and solutions, and propose additional incentives, such as: reviewing feed-in tariff rates, commissioning professional certification, small-scale financing, guaranteeing that qualifying illegal structures on rooftops won't be demolished for 20 years, mandatory installation on new buildings, mandatory installation during old building renovation and facade improvement, mandatory installation on public facility buildings, etc. Information sessions should also be held so more people can participate through citizen power plants.

The Citizens of the Earth Foundation also calls on everyone to sign the petition together: demand the government actively promote rooftop solar!!