This website provides an English summary (graphs) of “People’s Power Station Report 2019 – Photovoltaics.”
“Wind Power” and “Small Hydropower” graphs will be released in PDF format at a future date (in Japanese only).
About Solar Sharing
Solar sharing is a combination of agriculture and power generation with narrow PV panels installed on farmland at wide intervals. This technique, first devised in 2004 by Japanese engineer Akira Nagashima,
provides adequate shade and this increases crop yield in some cases. Income from selling electricity may exceed agricultural income depending on the FIT rate, and this gives incentives for farmers to stay on the land and helps stop the decrease in agricultural land.
Solar sharing example (Sosa City, Chiba)
In Japan in 2019, people’s PV power stations had a capacity of around 32 MW, with construction types roughly divided into approximately 50% field standing, 40% rooftop and 10% solar sharing. An expansion of solar sharing across Japan is expected to contribute to agricultural sustainability, food security, energy supply and curbing climate change all at one time, in addition to providing possible solutions to poverty and economic disparities between local governments.