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Japan has been focusing on finding spaces well-suited for solar power that might otherwise go unused. Recently, solar power company Kyocera announced that it was building huge floating solar power plants that covered inland bodies of water like reservoirs, projects that both provided clean energy and were beneficial to the reservoirs themselves.
Now, the company has turned their attention to the several abandoned golf courses in the country, with plans to build large solar farms on the land. These golf courses feature large amounts of unused open land, few shade trees and high sun exposure -- all of the things you need for a productive solar farm.
The company has just started construction on a 23-MW solar power plant on an abandoned course in Kyoto Prefecture. It will generate an estimated 26,312 MWh per year -- enough to power 8,100 local homes. The company calculated that number based on the average household electricity use of 3,254.4 kWh per year.
When finished, it will be the largest solar power installation in Kyoto Prefecture.
How much power could be generated by covering parking lots with solar panels?
Kyocera and Century Tokyo Leasing, along with two other companies, also announced recently that they are developing a 92MW solar power plant at a site in Kagoshima Prefecture. The site was originally designated as a golf course over 30 years ago and then was abandoned.
In the bigger picture, are we looking at a solar uptake of abandoned golf courses? Are we to see more large-scale solar projects go up on golf-course land otherwise going unused? The press release said, "In the United States, several cities in states such as Florida, Utah, Kansas and Minnesota are having public discussion and considering proposals on how best to repurpose closed golf courses."
Advantages for groups with solar interests are evident in courses characterized by expansive land mass, high sun exposure and a low concentration of shade trees.
In Japan, embracing solar energy is easier said than done, however. PV-Tech, which focuses on news about the solar PV supply chain, put this in perspective. The site noted Japan's shortage of land for large-scale solar initiatives, with the government "now offering incentives to developers building PV plants on landfill sites" while at the same time showing reluctance to approve plant development on agricultural land.
Courses left idle are now under analysis for repurposing or redevelopment, said Kyocera. The glut is a reflection of golf-property overdevelopment, in the real estate boom of the 1990s and 2000s.
Andy Colthorpe in PV-Tech said earlier this month, "A legacy of Japan's early 90s boom years, the country's obsession with golf led to the development of many golf courses that have since proven economically unsustainable."
Original Submission 1
Original Submission 2
(Score: 3, Interesting) by anubi on Tuesday July 07 2015, @01:20AM
I have heard of people living in extremely cramped conditions in Japan.
If they are going to build something like this, can't this be made in such a manner as to provide decent low cost housing as well?
Japan is well known for its beauty, artisans, and craftsmanship up there with the Germans and Swiss. I am quite sure some Japanese architects could turn such a thing into a piece of functional art.
I am fed up with solar projects that look like a half-finished roofing job. I have had enough discussions with my neighbors to know I am not alone in my observations. I will soon be going solar myself, but my panels will all be on a patio cover which is designed from the ground up to incorporate the panels in a decorative way. No one should ever suspect the whole idea of the patio was its roof - and meanwhile I have extremely easy access to maintain the panels or the wiring.
This infrastructure will be with them for a long time. Please do it right. That last photo [wsj.net] I saw on Soylent of a Japanese attempt at solar farming was an eyesore. Not Japanese at all in my book. Looked like a terrible waste of good land.
Japan is worldwide known for its artistry. I sure hope they keep it that way. What I saw in that picture I referenced is not art. Its an overdone test prototype.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday July 07 2015, @01:49AM
I'd worry too at the prospect of covering open space in an area as densely built up as Kyoto Prefecture, as any brief Google Map peek will reveal.
OTOH, they don't seem to have a large excess of parking lots like you would find in north america. They do have miles of cheek by jowl industrial looking buildings which could be covered leaving only the streets open.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Tuesday July 07 2015, @03:31AM
As someone mentioned above, the best place for solar farms might well be over the parking lots in the cities and suburbs. Just look at all the space around Costco's, Home Depots, Malls etc. Plus it would help protect peoples cars from the sun and rain...win/win
Also in the South and West it would offset the drain on the grid from the air conditioning of these huge indoor spaces.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Tuesday July 07 2015, @03:59AM
Open up your Google maps, and zoom in on any Japanese city.
You just don't have see those large parking lots.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 07 2015, @05:49AM
your perspective is skewed.
if you were from a non- mi-optic space faring civilization covering distances of light-years regularly,
you wouldn't see a "ugly" sea of solar panels covering green pastures but rather a tiny
neat-o energy detector/collector of the local solar-systems main gravity well.
it's all in the eye of the beholder : )
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday July 07 2015, @10:25AM
I think most people would agree with you but decorative installations drive the cost up a lot and lower the overall ROI for something people are doing for utility. That said, incorporating panels into a patio cover is a good idea and one you don't see much or hear people talking about a lot yet. Another option is a cover for your driveway, with the added benefit that you don't have to shovel the snow out in the winter. Both ideas give you more options if the orientation of your roof is sub-optimal for roof-mounted panels.
Hope you post pics of the patio cover when you're done.
BTW when I lived in Japan 20 years ago solar hot-water heaters were already quite ubiquitous on homes in Kyushu. Same goes for homes in Turkey, where we traveled on our honeymoon 10 years ago; incidentally, they also had alternative fuels like biodiesel and LNG at every gas station there. It's PVs that have yet to hit their stride, but when it comes to alternative energy and energy efficiency the United States far lags other parts of the world. It's rather a dinosaur, still running on dead dinosaurs.
Washington DC delenda est.