The newly projected 350 percent growth of Japan’s solar market from 2012 to 2013 dwarfs estimates made earlier this year.

“The Japanese feed-in tariff is one of the most lucrative in the world,” explained Adam James, GTM Research Solar Analyst for Global Demand. “As a result, there has been a gold rush. In the first half of 2013, we saw twice as much solar installed in Japan as in all of 2012. From 1.7 gigawatts last year, we expect the Japanese market to grow to well over 6 gigawatts of installed capacity in 2013.”

The latest forecast is almost a full gigawatt higher than the 5.3 gigawatts expected by analysts earlier this year.

The Japanese FIT was launched in 2012, in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. It was revised in April down to its present 42 yen (~$0.43) for every kilowatt-hour of electricity solar owners\’ systems send to the grid. The premium is guaranteed for ten years to residential buyers and twenty years for commercial/industrial and utility-scale installations.

via Japan’s Solar Market Surge Blows Away Earlier Forecasts : Greentech Media.