Thin film manufacturer Solar Frontier has announced that the 1MW Shimozuru Power Plant in the city of Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, in Japan has officially come online.
The power plant covers an area of approximately 20,000 square metres in an environmentally sensitive area and is equipped with around 6,700 CIS thin-film modules supplied by Solar Frontier.
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These modules will help to generate an estimated 1,220 MWh of electricity a year which will be sold to the Kyushu Electric Power Company. Izumi Solar Project, a joint venture company established in July 2012, will be responsible for operating the plant.
Solar Frontier Director and Senior Vice President Atsuhiko Hirano stated: “The selection of solar panels from our company for installation at a wintering ground for cranes, a symbol of Japan, shows that Solar Frontier’s CIS thin-film solar modules blend well with the surrounding environment and landscape.”
An opening ceremony was held and attended by Izumi city Mayor Toshihiko Shibuya, Kagoshima prefectural assembly member Fumiharu Horiguchi and Solar Frontier’s General Manager of Domestic Sales Akira Ueno, among others.
The project area is in in a region selected by Japan's Ministry of Environment as one of the “100 soundscapes of Japan” — a selection of environments providing aural experiences which are considered by the locals to be representative of their region and worth preserving for future generations. The area surrounding the plant is well known as a destination for 10,000 hooded and white-naped cranes which fly in from Siberia around October of each year.