Kyocera and Century Tokyo Leasing to Develop 13.4MW Floating Solar Power Plant

Kyocera Corp. and Century Tokyo Leasing Corp. will develop and operate a 13.4MW floating solar power plant on Japan's Yamakura Dam reservoir that will become the largest floating solar installation in the world. The project will be comprised of approximately 50,000 Kyocera modules installed over a water surface area of 180,000 square meters. The plant will generate an estimated 15,635MW hours (MWh) per year — enough electricity to power approximately 4,700 typical households.

Under the plan, Kyocera TCL Solar will build and operate the installation, and Century Tokyo Leasing will provide project financing. The Kyocera Group will be responsible for the supply of solar modules and related equipment in addition to construction, operation and maintenance. The modules will be installed on floating platforms manufactured by France’s Ciel et Terre.

 “When we first started R&D for solar energy in the mid 1970’s, the technology was only viable for small applications such as street lamps, traffic signs and telecommunication stations in mountainous areas,” stated Nobuo Kitamura, senior executive officer and general manager of the Corporate Solar Energy Group at Kyocera. “Since then, we have been working to make solar energy use more ubiquitous in society, and have expanded our business to residential, commercial and utility-scale solar applications. We are excited to work with our partners on this project, taking another step forward by utilizing untapped bodies of water as solar power generation sites.”

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