By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
A study showed Wednesday that South Korea is almost a decade behind leading economies like the United States and Japan in solar power technology.
The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI)'s poll of 204 firms in the renewable energy business indicated that more than 50 percent said running operations on solar energy will match the cost of fossil fuel starting by 2020.
The United States and Japan have forecast that their solar energy developments will be commercialized at an economic price by 2015 and 2010, respectively.
Solar energy, which is powered by the Sun's heat and light, is considered one of the most promising sources of renewable energies, as non-renewable resources like fossil fuels are quickly running out.
Countries around the world have been making huge investments and efforts to convert their widespread use of fossil fuel to solar energy in order to cut back on pollution and sustain resources.
However, the transition has been slow because the conversion calls for major construction, a large sum of money and technological developments.
Although its current status falls behind others, local companies seem to be optimistic about investing in the industry, as 92 percent of respondents said South Korea's solar energy business will see rapid growth.
Choi Sung-woo of KCCI's sustainable management division said ``Concerns over rising oil prices and global warming are pushing aggressive research into developing renewable energy, so we should speed up our agenda as well.''
Companies asked the government to provide more financial support and promote the importance of the new energy in the domestic market.