Kyocera TCL Solar LLC, a joint venture between Kyocera Corp. and Century Tokyo Leasing Corp., has started construction of a 13.7 MW floating solar power project, located on the Yamakura Dam reservoir in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
Scheduled for launch in fiscal-year 2018, the plant will feature approximately 51,000 Kyocera modules installed over a freshwater surface area of 180,000 square meters.
The project was initiated in October 2014, when the Public Enterprises Agency of Chiba Prefecture, which manages the Yamakura Dam, publicly sought companies to construct and operate a floating solar power plant to help reduce its environmental impact.
With the decrease in tracts of land suitable for utility-scale solar power plants in Japan due to the rapid implementation of solar power, Kyocera TCL Solar says it has been developing floating solar power plants since 2014: The company began operation of 1.7 MW and 1.2 MW plants in March 2015, followed by the launch of a 2.3 MW plant in June.
With Kyocera Communication Systems Co Ltd. responsible for construction and Kyocera Solar Corp. undertaking operations and maintenance of these projects, the Kyocera Group says it is cultivating the technology and experience to construct, operate and maintain floating solar power plants.
Image courtesy of Kyocera Corp.: A rendering of the 13.7 MW plant on the Yamakura Dam reservoir in Chiba Prefecture.
