Kobe, Japan, is doing its part to utilize green, clean technology that could power development as well as the needs of humans. A new residential neighborhood development in Kobe features houses equipped with solar panels. The panels, installed prior to purchase, supply power for cooking, heating, cooling and more.

More than half of Japan’s energy is produced from burning fossil fuels. Solar power emits less greenhouse gas and contributes less to air pollution.

Solar power benefits the Kobe homeowners immediately -- they don't have to retrofit their homes to benefit from major savings in electricity bills. As energy costs skyrocket all over the globe, homeowners are trying to cut costs. In many geographic areas, electric bills can be as much as rent or a mortgage payment.

Built-in solar panels help achieve those cost-saving goals. When excess power is generated by the panels, the surplus is sold back to the local power company and homeowners can make a few extra dollars. Solar panels are estimated to cost roughly $20,000 for Japanese households, and it is expected it will take 20 years to recoup that initial investment (without considering 20 years of electricity-cost savings).

Inside each home, wall displays show the amount of electricity the panels are generating and the amount the home is consuming.

Kyocera, a Japanese company manufactured the solar panels for the Kobe homes, subsidized by the Japanese government. Government subsidies helped reduce the cost of the solar panels by Japanese homeowners, and consumers who wanted cost savings purchased panels, increasing sales and investments in clean energy.

Ryutaro Yatsu of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment notes that solar power will help reduce the country’s climate-change impacts and overall environmental footprint. “We expect each household to have their own solar panel,” Yatsu says, whether with government assistance or private investment.

For other Kobe residents who want to power their homes using solar energy, Japan is working on subsidies to provide financial incentives for homeowners to go green. The Japanese government wants to double solar-power kilowatt hours from the current 1.4 million in the next few decades.