PVTIME – As part of a broader effort to accelerate the country’s transition away from fossil fuels, Thailand has more than doubled the ceiling for its household solar power scheme, raising the cumulative purchase target from 5GW to 10GW.
On 18 September, the National Energy Policy Committee approved the expansion, setting a fixed feed-in tariff of 2.20 Thai baht per kilowatt-hour for excess electricity fed back into the grid by residential solar installations. This rate is guaranteed for 20 years, which policymakers say is intended to provide homeowners with the assurance that their initial investment will be profitable in the long term.
Under the scheme, households with rooftop photovoltaic systems can sell surplus electricity back to the grid. The government aims to utilise distributed clean energy resources that would otherwise remain idle, while reducing pressure on the national grid and reliance on thermal generation.
This is being hailed as a significant step in Thailand’s energy restructuring. By turning ordinary citizens into energy producers, the policy aims to diversify household income streams while advancing the country’s decarbonisation goals. It also establishes Thailand as a regional model for how grassroots renewable energy adoption can complement utility-scale projects in the transition to a more environmentally friendly energy future.
