【Survey Part 2】Solar Investment: 'Known by Name, but Not Understood as Beneficial' — Awareness Doesn't Increase Even Among Those Interested in Tax Savings | 134 Visitors at Asset Management EXPO

SOLSEL (Solcel), a brokerage service for buying and selling used solar power generation systems (operated by Erevista Inc., headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; representative: Takuya Ishino; hereinafter 'SOLSEL'), exhibited at the 'Asset Management EXPO [Summer]' held at Tokyo Big Sight from May 15 (Fri) to 17 (Sun), 2026 (organized by RX Japan Co., Ltd.), and conducted a questionnaire survey targeting booth visitors (161 collected responses / 134 valid responses). This press release is the second installment in a series reporting the survey results from four perspectives, titled 'The Awareness Gap.'

The first installment (press release content here) reported that among the 41 respondents who knew of solar investment, only 41.5% were aware of its greatest advantage—tax-saving benefits—while the remaining 58.5% 'knew of its existence but not its tax-saving benefits.' This second installment delves deeper into which demographic groups exhibit this 'awareness gap.'

The analysis revealed that awareness of the 'existence' of solar investment increases with higher income. However, there is almost no difference in awareness between those 'interested in tax savings' and those 'not interested' (42.9% vs 46.7%).

Even among those who care about 'preserving wealth,' information on 'why solar investment is beneficial' is not reaching them. Awareness stops at 'knowing the name' and does not progress to 'understanding why it is beneficial.'

Survey Overview

Item

Content

Survey Name

Questionnaire Survey on Awareness of Solar Investment and Tax-Saving Benefits

Target Respondents

Visitors to the SOLSEL booth at 'Asset Management EXPO [Summer]'

Collected / Valid Responses

161 / 134

Period

May 15 (Fri) – 17 (Sun), 2026

Location

Tokyo Big Sight

Method

Face-to-face questionnaire at the venue

Conducted by

SOLSEL (operated by Erevista Inc.)

Respondent Profile

Average age 44; approximately 30% earn over ¥10 million annually—primarily individuals with high investment motivation and knowledge

*This survey was conducted on-site and does not represent the entire Japanese population or all investors. Some data segments have limited respondents; please interpret as trends.

[Premise] Awareness has two stages: 'knowing the name' and 'knowing why it is beneficial'

Awareness of solar investment consists of two stages: 'knowing the name or existence' and 'knowing why it is beneficial (i.e., tax-saving benefits).' The first installment showed that among the 41 who knew of its existence, only slightly over 40% understood the tax-saving benefits.

Responses to 'Were you aware of the tax-saving benefits?'

Number

Aware

17

Vaguely heard of it

19

Learned about it today for the first time

5

'Know of existence but not why it is beneficial' (= Vaguely heard + Learned today) accounts for 58.5% (24 people). This second installment examines whether this gap closes among 'high-interest groups.'

Awareness of existence increases with income—56.0% among those earning over ¥10 million

First, examining awareness of the 'existence' of solar investment by income level reveals a straightforward upward trend: higher income correlates with higher awareness.

Income Bracket

Awareness of Solar Investment Existence

Under ¥6 million

23.1%

¥6 million – ¥10 million

43.2%

Over ¥10 million

56.0%

Higher-income individuals are more aware that 'solar investment is an option'—a natural result considering their higher information sensitivity. The problem lies in the fact that this 'awareness of existence' does not translate into 'understanding why it is beneficial.'

However, awareness does not increase with interest in tax savings—42.9% vs 46.7%

Next, when the same 'awareness of existence' is divided by interest in tax savings, the picture changes dramatically.

While income shows a difference of over 10 percentage points in awareness, interest in tax savings shows almost no difference (interest group slightly lower than non-interest group).

Interest in Tax Savings

Awareness of Solar Investment Existence

Interested

43.9%

Not Interested

46.7%

Ideally, those who 'want to save money through tax savings' should encounter solar investment while actively searching for tax-efficient investments. However, in reality, interest in tax savings has almost no impact on whether someone knows about solar investment. This suggests that solar investment is not appearing in the 'search net' of active information seekers looking for tax-efficient investments. Despite having interest, the information is not reaching them—this is the core of the awareness gap.

Even owners are only 'vaguely aware'—ownership does not automatically lead to understanding

Even more suggestive is the level of understanding among respondents who actually own solar power plants. In this survey, owners were very few (11 people), but among them, a certain number remained at the 'vaguely aware' stage regarding tax-saving benefits (trend).

It is not the case that 'ownership leads to understanding'; even owners have an ambiguous grasp of 'why it is beneficial.' This indicates that the awareness gap is not merely a matter of information exposure.

*Since owners number only n=11, the above is merely a reference trend.

Why doesn't information reach those who are interested?

The content of tax-saving benefits—such as depreciation methods and consumption tax refund mechanisms—is somewhat specialized. Additionally, in many people's minds, solar investment still fits into the 'old frame' of 'earning high returns through electricity sales,' disconnected from its current reality as a 'solid way to preserve assets through tax savings.'

Therefore, even when people interested in tax savings search for information, solar investment does not appear as a 'candidate' in their search or information exposure. The outdated image of 'solar investment being a thing of the past,' highlighted in the first installment, forms the foundation for this awareness gap.

What SOLSEL wants to convey: Connecting interest to 'understanding why it is beneficial'

What this second installment reveals is not that 'people are uninterested in solar investment,' but rather that 'even among those interested, information on why it is beneficial is not reaching them.' While existence is known, the next step—understanding tax-saving mechanisms like depreciation and consumption tax refunds—is not shared even among highly interested groups.

SOLSEL will update the outdated image of solar investment—based on the FIT era—with the latest information on the secondary market, current regulations, and tax-saving mechanisms, bridging the gap from 'knowing the name' to 'understanding why it is beneficial.'

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The details of 'tax-saving benefits'—including depreciation, consumption tax refunds, and how they differ from other asset-building methods—are clearly explained in our seminars.

▶ In-depth seminar on tax-saving benefits: Register here

Additionally, our dedicated staff will calculate your potential tax savings based on your income and taxable income—for free. We support you comprehensively, from selecting a used power plant to financing, tax filing, and resale.

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About the Operator and Service

The solar power generation brokerage service 'SOLSEL (Solcel)' facilitates the buying and selling of operational solar power plants (used/secondary).