JAPAN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Yasunari Sugiyama, Miki Tsubono, Kenya Suzuki and Mayu Okada, Nishimura & Asahi
Solar Sharing Overview
placed. In some cases, the duration is three years, after which renewal is required. However, the permit- ted duration of temporary conversion is ten years, under the following circumstances: • when approved farmers use their own cropland or land over which they hold use rights; • when abandoned farmland is being restored and repurposed; or • when the land is classified as Type-2 or Type-3 cropland. To obtain and maintain the approval, crop yields must not fall by (approximately) 20% (or more) compared with the average yield in the relevant area. Therefore, establishing a structure that ensures continuation of proper farming operations is essential to the imple- mentation of, and maintaining, solar sharing. Project financing options It is expected that solar-sharing projects will be able to raise funds through project financing and other non-recourse loan structures. In Japan, renewable energy projects commonly procure project financing due to stable cash flow supported by Feed-in Tariff (FIT), Feed-in Premium (FIP), and expanding corpo- rate power purchase agreement arrangements. Solar- sharing projects may separate the entity that engages in power generation from the entity that engages in farming. The power-generating entity can obtain pro- ject financing, and lenders can exercise step-in rights with respect to the power-generation component. In addition, the farming entity can receive stable co- operation payments, allowing it to scale up its opera- tions through the solar-sharing project. When structuring project financing, lenders will require structures that ensure maintenance of temporary con- version permission and continuation of appropriate farming activities during the loan term. In addition to contractual measures, it is necessary to establish an adequate system to provide agricultural support and guidance. Sustainability Policy and Carbon Reduction for Agriculture In May 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries formulated the “MIDORI Strategy for Sus-
Solar sharing refers to a project in which easily remov- able support structures are installed on cropland and photovoltaic equipment is placed above them to gen- erate electricity while agricultural activities continue underneath. This enables simultaneous generation of electricity and farming on the same land. In addition to providing farmers with an additional revenue source, solar sharing can avoid environmen- tal issues that might arise from the development of new land for power generation, since it uses existing farmland that has already been developed, instead of undeveloped forests, which have frequently been used for solar power generation projects in the past. Particularly when abandoned farmland is repurposed, solar sharing contributes to maintaining the land’s potential as cropland. Solar sharing has attracted increasing attention in recent years, because it gener- ates clean energy while addressing social issues such as improving food self-sufficiency and enhancing food security. Since the legal framework for solar sharing was clari- fied, the number of projects has risen steadily. How- ever, in April 2026, the Study Group on Agrivoltaics announced a policy direction toward tighter regulation. Depending on the scope and content of such regula- tory changes, the future development and operation of agrivoltaic projects may be materially affected. It will therefore be important to monitor future regulatory developments closely. Legal framework The legal framework for solar sharing was initially clar- ified in a notification issued by the Ministry of Agricul- ture, Forestry and Fisheries in March 2013, and was revised in 2018. In 2024, amendments to the Enforce- ment Regulations for the Cropland Act and the issu- ance of new guidelines formally established the legal framework for solar sharing in its entirety. Solar sharing requires the installation of support struc- tures for solar panels on cropland, and temporary conversion permission (rather than ordinary conver- sion permission) must be obtained for the portion of the land on which the foundations for the pillars are
53 A GRICULTURA L LAW 20 26
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