▪ While the government promotes the expansion of renewable energy to achieve national greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, solar power, which accounts for a large share of renewable energy, is behind the deployment goal due to diminishing locations and saturated power grids.
▪ The solar power license process in Korea is divided into an electricity generation business license and a development activity license.
▪ A total of 129 out of 228 basic local governments (95% excluding the Seoul metropolitan area and other metropolitan cities) put in place regulations (ordinances) on solar power setback, and there has been a sharp increase in the number of these basic local governments since it was first adopted in 2015.
▪ The growing number of solar panels in rural areas has become one of the major contributors to complaints from residents.
▪ The potential location area for solar power generation facilities has decreased greatly compared to 2015 due to solar setback regulations, and it is in the order of Gyeongbuk, Chungnam, and Jeonnam.
▪ Although the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the Guidelines for the Location of Solar Power Generation (Mar. 2017) and Improvement Measures for Setback Regulations (Jan. 2023), they are just recommendations with no binding effect.
▪ Although the government offers various incentives for the deregulation of setbacks, only five basic local governments have deregulated solar power setbacks to the level recommended by the central government.
▪ According to a review of empirical studies on the hazardous effect of solar installations, the impact on the surrounding areas was negligible.
▪ Except for the U.S., few countries have solar power setback regulations, and even the U.S. has relatively weaker regulations than those in Korea.
▪ In Japan, an increasing number of local governments are introducing ordinances to discourage the installation of renewable energy generation facilities as Korea does.
▪ Solar power setback regulations lead to a wide range of issues, such as the lack of an objective basis for the regulations, potential conflicts between stakeholders due to different regulations between local governments, and obstacles to the development of the solar industry.
▪ Promote voluntary solar power setback regulations for local governments through government recommendations and incentives while considering binding policy measures, such as amendments to applicable laws
▪ Since there is a risk of a potential backlash from residents if solar power setback regulations are legally deregulated, it is necessary to make efforts to increase acceptance among residents, such as ensuring objectivity for setback criteria.