Economic growth is remarkable in Asian countries. Steady economic growth is expected, but troubles are also occurring. That is power shortages. One of these countries is Pakistan. In rural areas of this country, there is a serious power shortage, with power outages lasting more than 10 hours a day. In an effort to resolve this situation, China is providing support. China is providing aid to Pakistan totaling 5 trillion yen. One of the highlights is the giant mega solar power plant. Chinese companies are installing more than 400,000 solar panels to generate electricity. In 2012, the solar power generation capacity of the Asia-Pacific region was 20% of the world’s total. However, due to the growth of Chinese companies, this has increased rapidly to 48% in 2016. Asia has surpassed Europe’s 34%. Emerging countries that had almost no solar power generation facilities are also working to expand their capacity to meet electricity demand.
However, there are also some concerns. Considering the current production volume of solar panels, after 2030, China and Southeast Asia will be overflowing with discarded panels. There is concern about the mass disposal of solar panels that have outlived their useful life. This is not only a concern for Asian countries, but is also becoming a real problem in Japan. Currently, the majority of used solar panels are not reused and are disposed of in landfills. This landfill disposal has a large burden on the environment. Japan has been at the forefront as a developed country in solar power generation. However, Japan is the first in the world to face the problem of disposal. If old panels are reused, the costs of disposal and the construction of new power plants can be reduced.
The environment is being established for the business of maintenance and inspection of used solar panels. The main battlefield of the solar power generation business is shifting from panel production to panel maintenance and management. The power generation capacity of panels decreases year by year after installation. There will also be more breakdowns. At that time, one business will be to rush to the site quickly, quickly replace parts, and maintain the power generation capacity. There is also a demand for businesses that remotely monitor the operation status of solar power plants using drones and security cameras. It is certain that panel production will decrease. There is no need to invest large amounts of capital and human capital in a declining field. Selecting investments while gaining a share in niche fields that large companies do not handle, and running a business with a small number of people will be an option in the future.
