A joint venture has completed construction of two floating solar power plants in Kato City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
Electronics supplier Kyocera Corporation, which also makes solar panels, and Century Tokyo Leasing, which operates in equipment leasing, completed the plants on Nishihira Pond with a capacity of 1.7MW and on Higashihira Pond with 1.2MW capacity.
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Combined the plants will generate 3,300MWh per year, enough to power 920 households.
Electricity generated will be sold to the local utility, Kansai Electric Power Co, through Japan’s feed-in-tariff system.
Kyocera claims several benefits to floating solar power systems:
- They typically generate more electricity than ground-mount and rooftop systems due to the cooling effect of the water
- They reduce reservoir water evaporation and algae growth by shading the water.
- Floating platforms are 100% recyclable, utilizing high-density polyethylene, which can withstand ultraviolet rays and resists corrosion.
The company also claims that the floating platforms are engineered to withstand typhoon conditions.
Last September, PV Tech reported that the joint venture was aiming to develop 60MW of floating PV during the financial year, which in Japan will finish at the end of this month.
