The global investment boom in Japan 's solar power projects came to an abrupt end at the end of March, when the government cut the guaranteed rate that utilities had to pay renewable energy electricity providers under its feed-in tariff law, recent data showed.

The accumulated renewable energy capacity approved by the government rose by more than 40% a month in every month from November 2012 through March 2013, peaking at gains of 77% and 61% in February and March respectively, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday.

However, the gains skidded to 2% in April and 4% in May, the data showed. METI didn't provide monthly data prior to October.

Under a law that took effect in July 2012 following the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, renewable energy electricity providers were guaranteed high rates from regional utilities for fixed periods. For large-scale solar farms, the guaranteed rates, or feed-in tariffs, were Y42 ($0.43) a kilowatt-hour for a 20-year period.

The tariffs led to an investment boom in solar farms on land earmarked for industrial use in more optimistic times, but which sat idle as Japan 's rural population shrunk and industries moved offshore.

However, the government reduced the solar feed-in tariff from April by 10% to Y37.8 per kilowatt-hour for projects approved after March 31, citing lower costs of solar panels.
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