From Farms to Schools, Where Will Solar Panels Go Next?

Solar panels can generate power in a wide range of locations. As efforts to expand renewable energy ramp up, you might be surprised where you find them.

Ryosuke Kawaguchi, The Sankei Shimbun

2024-01-24 [Published 3 months ago]

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Solar power is rapidly expanding in response to global calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This source of renewable energy has changed the landscape in Japan. Vast fields covered with solar panels, once an uncommon sight, have now become a familiar one.

Meanwhile, as a small country, Japan is reaching the limits of repurposing its golf courses and building on its mountainous terrain. Now, solar panels are now finding their way into unexpected locations like farms, city streets, and alongside railway tracks. Initiatives across the country are actively exploring innovative installation sites to further extend the reach of solar energy.

Local Production for Local Consumption

Vegetables thrive beneath neatly arranged solar panels. This is an attempt to achieve agrivoltaics, often called agrisolar, or the integration of solar power and agriculture. Panels are strategically placed to provide appropriate sunlight conditions for the crops, fostering their growth. Takeshi Magami, President of Chiba Ecological Energy, a venture launched out of Chiba University, explains. "We aim for local production for local consumption – for both energy and food."

Solar panels also now line the tracks of the Hokuso Line in Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture. About ten kilometers of panels adorn the former planned route of the Narita Shinkansen, a project to connect Narita Airport and Tokyo Station that never came to fruition.

*Solar panels stretching beside a running Skyliner create the illusion of three trains running side by side. (©Sankei by Ryosuke Kawaguchi)*

Education for the Next Generation

Children with backpacks stroll through their school's gate stepping on solar panels. Photovoltaic pavement, or solar pavement, is being tested at Aoyama Elementary School in Tokyo's Minato Ward.

*School children in Tokyo step on 'solar pavement' as they go to school (©Sankei by Ryosuke Kawaguchi)*

The panels, when first installed in January 2023, sparked interest among the children who often asked, "What are these?" as they gingerly stepped on the panels' surfaces. A ward official noted, "In ten years, these children will be the ones shaping the future. We want them to develop an awareness of environmental issues."

Floating Solar

The Chiba Yamakura Floating Mega Solar Power Plant in Ichihara City is a floating photovoltaic, or floating PV, plant installed on Yamakura Dam. The dam, used for storing industrial water, and the floating panels present a unique spectacle.