Rooftop projects shine a spotlight onsolar power benefits

Guaranteed tariffs and subsidies support distributed generation projects, which can help reduce pollution and excess inventories, reports Xie Yu in Shanghai

Jason Inch, a Canadian scholar living in Shanghai, just installed a "personal power station" on the roof of a 1930s-era building in the city center.

The 1.5-kilowatt, six-panel solar system can offset the building's own energy use significantly and sell its excess electricity to the grid at a preferential rate of 0.42 yuan (6.77 cents) per kilowatt-hour under what's known as a feed-in tariff.