Rakuten, Japan’s largest and most popular online shopping outlet, plans to start selling home-use solar panels as early as this year, according to a report this morning in The Nikkei.
In addition to offering the panels, Rakuten will provide customers with financing options to make the panels more affordable. These will include installment plans and low interest loans. At around 3 million yen (or ~$38,000 USD), the panels may be a tough sell, especially as Rakuten users aren’t used to the company being a provider of alternative energy solutions; this is Rakuten’s first foray into that field.
Rakuten has over 70 million members and a history of expanding into new markets. In June of this year, the company launched a joint venture to expand their platform into Indonesia, and just a week ago it bought an 80 percent stake in German e-commerce company Tradoria.
For more information on Rakuten and its expansions, check out this infographic we made detailing the company’s history.
[via The Nikkei]
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