Vietnam plans to more than triple the amount of electricity it produces from renewable sources and push for a 26 per cent increase in household solar energy usage by 2030, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told Reuters in an interview. Based on its favorable geographical conditions, Vietnam has high potential for solar energy production, with 1,600-2,700 sunlight hours per year and an average direct normal irradiance of 4-5 kWh per square meter per day, according to GE Power. Vietnam is considered a late comer in the adoption of renewable energy, particularly solar energy due to a mix of uncertainty on tariffs, the difficulty of working with the state power monopoly, obstacles to creating a wholesale market, technological issues and foreign exchange fluctuations, writes Ma Nguyen for Asia Times.