MANY MINDEDTaiwan will require solar on large new and renovated buildings from August
From August 1, Taiwan will require new, expanded, or renovated buildings of 1,000 square metres or larger to install solar PV, at a rate of 1 kW per 20 square metres of building area. The rules, stemming from amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act, require solar to be built into building plans from the design stage rather than added later.
The Deputy Minister of the Interior estimated the mandate would add around 660 MW of solar capacity each year. That is a structural, recurring addition — capacity that arrives automatically as the building stock turns over, without a subsidy program to renew each budget cycle. The consultancy GlobalData forecasts annual solar additions of 1 to 2 GW and expects Taiwan to more than double its current solar capacity by the end of 2035.
For energy and shelter both, mandating generation at the point of construction lowers the marginal cost of clean power over a building's life and shrinks the land footprint of new capacity. Rooftops that would sit empty become quiet contributors to the grid.
What to watch is enforcement and whether the 660 MW figure — an official expectation — materializes in practice. A July 2025 typhoon damaged over 135,000 solar panels in Taiwan, a reminder that rooftop capacity in a storm-exposed region carries resilience questions. Taoyuan published its own local solar guidelines in May, suggesting implementation will vary by locality.
Source: pv magazine