“Do It Ourselves” Model For Community Power In Japan

This is a story of a Tokyo-based community solar startup.

Tama Empower came together after the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster on March 11th 2011. A community group in Tama City, a west suburban part of Tokyo, set up a solar project.

The process was hard and the author doesn't shy away from openly describing all the challenges related to the management of planning and development processes.

However, the team was persistent in achieving its vision. As a result, a total of 610 kW distributed solar PV was successfully installed in 13 places around the city — on a university building, schools, a house for elderly people, a community center, a private company’s building and a museum. And all that happened based on the "Do It Ourselves" model.

The author’s perspective is inspiring in that he sees all the obstacles as an integral part of any innovative project.

What I learned from the process is that every experience, including adversity, will be a solid base for the future innovation of community power. When you face adversity, dilemma or contradiction in the process of community power planning, they are not necessarily negative events, rather, you might recognise them as positive opportunities for innovation.