South Korea just completed its second major urban solar transformation — covering every apartment building rooftop in Busan with solar panels, generating 2.1 gigawatts contributed zero energy to the national grid.

 

South Korea just completed its second major urban solar transformation — covering every apartment building rooftop in Busan with solar panels, generating 2.1 gigawatts of distributed clean electricity from a city whose rooftops previously contributed zero energy to the national grid.

The Busan Solar Rooftop Initiative installed solar panels on 62,000 apartment rooftops across all 16 Busan districts over three years, adding 2.1 gigawatts of distributed capacity. Each installation connects to building-level battery storage providing 8 hours of backup. Building management associations receive 65 percent of electricity revenue through a 25-year revenue sharing agreement with Busan Metropolitan City, reducing building maintenance fees by 28 percent on average.

Busan's electricity demand reaches 3.4 gigawatts during peak summer. The 2.1 gigawatts of rooftop solar covers 62 percent of daytime demand directly from building surfaces that previously served no energy purpose, positioning Busan as South Korea's most distributed solar city alongside the earlier Seoul program.

Source: Busan Metropolitan City Energy Office, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korean Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy, 2025

#busansolar #southkoreainnovation #rooftopsolar #cleanenergy #renewableenergy #urbansolar #koreasolar