Sharing the sunlight of tea plantation, established panels in Tenryuu-ku

Incorporated non-profit organization OIKOS (Hamamatsu-shi, Tenryu-ku, Ikeda Akira) has converted the agricultural land and established a solar power plant in the tea plantation in Yokogawa, Tenryu-ku, Hamamatsu-shi. The idea of “solar sharing” is spreading over the country, and the use of mountainous area for this purpose may get some attention as a new solution.

According to the NGO, the panels were installed in 3 tea plantations totaling 30 a owned by Mr. Ikeda, in the beginning of the year. The height of the column is 2.3 meter. There is almost no influence of light blocking by the solar power generation panel, and on the contrary, there is the effect of defrosting. The method “Komogake”, which covers the tea plantation with sheets for deepening the taste and protect flavor, is used. In this case, the sheets are hanged through a hook on the support column, preventing the tea leaf from touching the sheet and scratching. The power generation is 150kW and the electricity started being sold from April. This income will be spent for returning the loans, making new investments and expansion. According to Mr. Ikeda, the population in the mountainous area is aging, and preserving the tea plantations is becoming difficult. However, some farmers are showing their interests to this activity. If the income increases from selling electricity, more people may be interested”.

※Chunichi newspaper⇒http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/shizuoka/20170607/CK2017060602000285.html　2017.6.8　11：30