Japanese agriculture, as seen in the Agrivoltaics, is very distinctive compared to other countries. Of these, the Japanese approach to Agricoltaics in rice paddies is probably the most advanced.
From August to September is the peak harvest season for rice grown in paddy fields. This is no exception for the Agricoltaics. The photo shows the rice harvest at an Agricoltaics in a paddy field in Chiba City, near Tokyo.
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| Rice harvesting at an Agrivoltaics near Tokyo |
Rice paddies account for 55% of agricultural land in Japan, and if we can utilise them as an agri-PV, we can develop both agriculture and renewable energy businesses. For this reason, in Japan, demonstration tests of Agrivoltaics in rice paddies have been carried out for over 10 years.
As a result, general-purpose agricultural machinery can operate without any problems in the PV facilities. The decrease in rice yield has been kept within 10%.
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| Work using a general-purpose combine harvester |
In Japanese rice farming, the work carried out by agricultural machinery, from rice transplanters to combine harvesters, is systematised, so if some successful examples of Agrivoltaics are created, the same approach will probably spread.
At present, we are conducting research into the production of renewable energy and decarbonisation in agricultural areas through joint research with Chiba University. The results of this research will be published in papers and other publications in stages.
