Tech Vertical solar panels transform Japan’s rural landscape

Vertical solar panels, although still uncommon on Japanese farmland—including rice paddies—are expected to gradually reshape the country's agricultural landscape. This approach is part of an emerging system known as agrivoltaics, which enables farmland to be utilised for both agricultural purposes and solar power generation. Farmers can generate additional income from energy production.

In May 2024, Ashikaga-based Sharing Farm installed vertical solar panels on one of its rice fields. When the rice was harvested that autumn, the yield reached 868 kilograms, just 5% less than the previous year's harvest. Sharing Farm has entered into a contract with Marubeni Power Retail Corp., a Tokyo-based electricity supplier headquartered in Chiyoda Ward, to sell the power generated from the site.

Unlike horizontal solar panels, vertical ones pose few restrictions on the height of farming equipment in dual-use farmland. Both sides of the vertical panels, which face east and west, can generate electricity in the mornings and evenings, when power demand is high, officials said. "(The vertical solar panels) turned out to have less of an impact on the crop than we had expected," said Taiki Akasaka, a member of Sharing Farm's board of directors. "We would like to spread the technology further if it can be built more cheaply." Officials of the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association noted that vertical photovoltaic power generation equipment first arrived in Japan around 15 years ago. Erected in an upright position, they also have the advantage of being less susceptible to snowfall and being able to generate power by using light reflected from the snow surface.

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I can stand solar panels on roofs and out in fields where they don't stand out too much. The giant windmills ruin the view of Mother Nature way too much for my liking. Some people here in Maine want to line our beautiful coast with them , UGH !

In the UK, they were supposed to be looking into placing solar panels on the roofs of 'commercial' buildings like those huge DIY superstores, shopping centres etc. They're already architectural eyesores so why joy get some use out of their ugliness?

I wonder if the panels are usually installed in a specific direction, i.e., facing East/West?

Mikawa Ossan said:

I wonder if the panels are usually installed in a specific direction, i.e., facing East/West?

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I assume they must be to maximise sun direction.

Mikawa Ossan said:

I wonder if the panels are usually installed in a specific direction, i.e., facing East/West?

Click to expand...

Some have systems that turn them to follow the sun but generally they face South to maximize the light they get from the mid-day sun. There are also very specific angles for the panels to be set at depending on the location's latitude and the time of year. Solar panel technology has had a lot of advancement since the early 90s and some of the newer ideas are really exciting.

@Grandpa Frank I agree about the look and noise of the large wind generators. There has been a lot of advancement with those as well and some exciting things being tested. Small, compact, quiet, and bird friendly designs are being tested which also have the benefit of increasing the range of wind speed at which power can be produced. These could be added to the tops of buildings in cities, like Chicago, where there is plenty of wind but not enough roof top area to make solar panels worth. Using these in addition to "green roofs" can add a lot of benefits.

I really hope that our green power generation continues to grow and will not be snuffed out by the oil and coal companies once again. I have hope as the world is bigger than the US and even if those companies are now winning again here there are other countries where green power generation will continue to expand and improve. And just to put it out there, nuclear is not green! Anyone who says it is just ignores the nuclear waste that is created and is currently just being stored around the country.

We want reliable energy sources so we can charge our gizmos and watch endless streaming service and online porn etc that is, until they want to set up wind farms near our homes, fill our fields with solar panels, dam off rivers for hydroelectric power or set up a small nuclear reactor next to the local supermarket! Then we protest!

I think nuclear (fission) power is 'defined' as green because it doesn't produce carbon dioxide or other green house gases. If only they can crack nuclear fusion power generation as a technology then humanity is save since it's genuinely clean and efficient, but it's been 20-30 years away since I was a child! There's not enough investment in it.

We're all going to die in a horrible inferno…unless an asteroid gets us first…or the idiocy of Putin/Trump/Jong Un

This is worth watching. Surprisingly optimistic message despite the horror.