Skip to main content

Kyocera announces plan for world's largest floating solar farm

<p>Joint venture plans to build 2.9MW floating solar farm in Hyogo Prefecture. It&#39;s cooler than other sun power in at least one way.</p>

Japanese technology giant Kyocera has announced it will move forward with ambitious plans to develop floating solar farms, confirming it will team up with Century Tokyo Leasing Corp to deliver a 2.9MW project.

The company, which previously has argued that floating solar farms would address concerns that large solar projects risk eating into valuable agricultural land, issued a statement revealing it plans to install two separate floating arrays, one boasting 1.7MW capacity and one providing 1.2MW. They will be in Hyogo Prefecture.

Kyocera said that in addition to easing land pressure, the floating solar arrays promised to deliver higher levels of conversion efficiency than standard solar farms, thanks to the cooling effect of the water.

The project represents a further boost to the Japanese solar industry, which has enjoyed a surge in new developments in recent years thanks to the government's feed-in tariff incentives and significant investment from Japanese solar manufacturers.

Kyocera said it already had delivered around 93MW of solar projects through its partnership with Century Tokyo Leasing Corp, which has been in place since 2012.

A spokeswoman for the company told news agency Bloomberg that the two firms were keen to expand the joint venture through the development of up to 30 floating solar arrays boasting around 60MW of new capacity.

Top image of Kobe, capital of Hyogo Prefecture, by Sean Pavone via Shutterstock. This article first appeared at BusinessGreen.

More on this topic