ブログを 引っ越しました

ブログを別のサイトに引っ越しました。

新しいブログはこちらです：http://solar-sharing-japan.blogspot.jp/

これからの投稿は全て新しいアドレス↑↑↑になりますのでよろしくお願いします。

これまでの記事も全て、新しいアドレスに載っています。

ココログから引っ越した理由は主に2つです：

１．ブログの管理は私にはやりづらく、投稿が面倒でした（例えば記事のレイアウトで段落間の空白が反映されないこと；写真の管理など）。

２．ココログは日本国内向けのサービスで、日本語以外での発信や海外からのアクセスを全く想定していません。そのため、例えばアクセス情報では日本国内のアクセスしか分らないなど、不便なことが生じます。

上記の点が改善されれば、戻ってこようかなと思っています。今まではお世話になりました。

Blog moved elsewhere

I moved this blog to another site. 

New blog is here:  http://solar-sharing-japan.blogspot.jp/

Everything from now on will be posted on this ↑↑↑ new address.

You can also find all the old articles on the new address as well.

There are two reasons for leaving Cocolog:

1. I found managing blog on Cocolog inconvenient and posting new articles time consuming (basic layout problems like spacing between paragraphs not automatically reflected in final article; cumbersome photo management etc).

2. Cocolog is inherently designed to be used within Japan. It does not assume posting in any other language than Japanese. It does not assume the blog could be viewed in countries other than Japan. This results in several inconveniences, such as access statistics only showing views within Japan, not from around the world. It's not world-wide but Japan-wide. Which is quite narrow.

I hope Cocolog will once decide to fix these issues. Until then, see you on another platform!

"Mega solar" construction regulated to protect scenery: Yufu

(Japanese article is here.)

The town of Yufu in Kyushu decided to protect its landscape against uncontrolled growth of large scale solar power generation facilities.

Yufu, in Oita prefecture, enacted ordinance that regulates construction of large scale solar power plants (called "mega solar" in Japanese).

The move aims to prevent destruction of Yufu's scenic landscape by large and unsightly stretches of solar panels.

Yufu's newly adopted regulation is so unusual that it was reported in online Sankei news, regional edition of Yomiuri Shimbun and other media.

The "Ordinance on harmonization of natural environment and renewable energy generation operations" requires companies that plan to construct solar power facility larger than 5,000 m2, to notify the town and provide explanation to local residents' council. Town authorities may ask to review the plan if detrimental effects on landscape are anticipated.

In addition, places of extraordinary natural or historical value and of outstanding scenic beauty may be designated as "inhibition zone,"where companies may be asked to refrain from any renewable energy development projects whatsoever.

This is the first ordinance regulating solar power generation in Kyushu, and it is an unusual measure nationally.

The town of Yufu, with its famous Yufuin-onsen, is among leading tourist destinations in Kyushu. Along with hot springs, beautiful scenery too is a valuable tourism resource that helps attract visitors.

(Yufu. Photo by Takasunrise 0921. Reproduced under GFDL+creative commons2.5)

Recenty, several plans for large scale solar power generation projects  have successively emerged in the town.

Local residents, fearing that such projects would have disastrous effect on their town's landscape, opposed them, but solar power plant construction on private land cannot be regulated under Japan's current Landscape Act. That is why Yufu started working on its own ordinance proposal in December 2013.

The proposal passed unanimously in the town council on January 28, 2014, and was enforced on the following day.

Boom in solar power construction in Japan was sparked by the launch of renewable energy feed-in tariff (FIT) system in July 2012.

We - Bo & Su - will also benefit from this system in our solar sharing power plant & farm that is now being designed.

FIT system has been a powerful boost to the spread of renewable energy, but (just as any other system) it is not perfect.

Solar Award 2013

The inventor of solar sharing Akira Nagashima received Solar Award 2013. He was one of three winners in the "Challenge" category.

The award ceremony was held on December 12, 2013, at the venue of Japan's major environmental products exhibition Eco-Products 2013.

The award committee recognized Nagashima's innovative idea of combining farming and solar power generation - a concept he named solar sharing.

Solar sharing is a new trend attracting attention of solar industry as well as farmers. Until recently, the options for placing solar panels were limited to either rooftops or the ground. Solar sharing opened up an entirely new possibility: installing solar panels over the farmland without imposing any limits on the agricultural production below.

Solar Award, established in 2012, selects outstanding ideas, projects and initiatives that contribute to the promotion of renewable energy in Japan. Widespread use of renewable energy can help achieve two goals:

1. increase Japan's energy self-sufficiency

2. breathe new life to Japan's declining countryside (through decentralized generation model)

Tamaden: Can community solar power plants be successful for-profits?

Tamaden (多摩電力合同会社 =  Tama Energy LLC) is a company whose business model is framed around Japan's renewable energy feed-in-tariff system.

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It's simple:

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1. Tamaden "borrows" a roof from a facility in Tama region, Western Tokyo. The facility can be a school, a private company, a nursing home - any type of institution as long as they have a suitable roof and are interested in renewable energy.

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2. Tamaden issues bonds (たまでん債 = tamaden-sai) - financial products for those interested in investing in local renewable energy enterprise. (The bonds are issued through a trust company, in this case  トランスバリュー信託株式会社 = Trans value trust company.)

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3. As additional source of financing, Tamaden gets a loan from a locally based financial institution, in this case 多摩信用金庫 =Tama Credit Union.

4. Tamaden installs solar panels on the borrowed roof and connects them to public grid.

5. Tamaden earns revenue from selling solar power to the grid (hereby the use of nation's feed-in tariff system)

6. From that revenue, Tamaden pays rent to the roof owner, dividends to investors who bought the bonds, and pays back the loan.

That's it. In theory, everything works perfectly. In reality, it works moderately well. In its short year-and-a-half history, Tamaden has launched two solar powerplants: one on the roof of Keisen University (恵泉女学園大学, 30 kW) and the other at Yuimaru Hijirigaoka (ゆいま～る聖ヶ丘, 67 kW), both in Tama, Western Tokyo.

This model does work, but whether it works as a for-profit enterprise is another question. When I visited Tamaden's solar plant on the roof of Keisen University and heard Mr. Sadatsugu Ohki, Tamaden's vicepresident, explaining their journey, my impression was that Tamaden is a bit struggling. The single biggest headache seems to be financing - How to slice the pie?

Martin: Living off the grid

My friend Martin is living off the grid. He covers all his electricity needs from a 100 watt solar panel. The panel generates, on average, 330 watt-hours of electricity a day.

For comparison, electricity consumption of my refrigerator is about 1000 Wh a day (calculated from the nameplate annual consumption 370 kWh. This was the first time I actually read the label).

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Martin does not have a fridge. Neither air conditioning nor television.

His electricity consumption can be roughly summed up as: using a laptop computer, using two LED lamps, using washing machine once a week, and an electric fan in summer.

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When Martin wants to charge his laptop, he doesn't plug it into electric outlets on the wall like the rest of us. Martin's electricity comes from a lead-acid battery, which stores electricity generated by the solar panel in the garden. The panel is outside just behind the window, attached to a bamboo stick and facing south.

That panel has been Martin's only source of electricity since he discontinued contract with Tokyo Electric Power Company a year and a half ago. He gets no electricity bills.

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In the first days of his solar power life, Martin was playing around and trying things out. For example how long could he use a microwave? Answer: not long. The battery was empty in 5 minutes. All electricity used up, he had to spend that evening in darkness.

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Needless to say, there is no microwave in Martin's place anymore. Just in case, he bought this emergency headlight↓on the picture for potential evening blackouts. But as Martin gradually got smarter in adjusting his energy usage to the available watt hours (more on sunny days and when the battery is fully charged, less on cloudy days), there's only very occasional need for the headlight.

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So is Martin an ascetic hermit or a radical hippie? Neither.

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Martin is a scientist by profession. He came to Japan from Germany as a doctoral student in 2010 to do research on photovoltaics. He completed his degree last year and is now working as a researcher in one of Tsukuba's institutes.

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I was at Martin's PhD thesis defense and I felt like Alice in Wonderland, lost in a parallel universe whose inhabitants were casually talking about "droplet epitaxy" and "coupling of quantum dots" in the pursuit of "developing strain free material systems for IBSC research." That's the wonderland behind future photovoltaic technology.

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Martin's private world is much more comprehensible to the laymen, and the room in Tsukuba he's renting, with tatami floor and the bamboo shelf and pumpkins at the front door, is very cozy place that people like to visit.

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Martin came to Japan in 2010. In March the following year, Great East Japan Earthquake accompanied with tsunami stroke the country, followed by Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors' meltdowns. This event literally changed the course of history in Japan.

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Tsukuba is 180 km south from Fukushima Daiichi plant. It's quite possible that if Martin came to Japan in different time, he wouldn't be living the life he is living now. Fukushima disaster impacted us more deeply than we're willing to admit.

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This was the first time that some people started to ask the question that is so rare in advanced economies:

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What is "enough"?

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Kondadai - forest in the city

(This article is not about solar sharing, but the topic is at least as important.)

Kondadai is a piece of forest about 4 km from Tsukuba station in the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki prefecture.

Kondadai is one of few remaining patches of wild land in Tsukuba. Despite being surrounded by houses and fields, this small jungle has ecosystem rich enough to provide habitat to birds of prey. Hawks (ohtaka) and buzzards (sashiba) are both classified as "near threatened species" on the Red List of Japan's Ministry of Environment. Presence of endangered hawks has helped prevent development in the area so far, but future is uncertain.

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Besides rich natural environment, there are also cultural assets in Kondadai - ruins of Konda castle. They are very mysterious ruins though - buried under the grasses, you have to fully employ your imagination to spot them.

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Kondadai is now protected thanks to the efforts of Kayoko Takahashi and her Association for the protection of Kondadai ecosystem 金田台の生態系を守る会. On Sunday Nov. 10, 2013, I took part in a study walk through the forest, regularly organized by the Association.

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Kondadai is, in a way, a classic story of conflict between two forces: nature conservation versus urban development. In the story, developers are blamed for insensitive destruction of nature in the name of progress, and environmentalists are blamed for hindering development by uselessly trying to protect every tree and bird.

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But when I was walking through the Kondadai forest on Sunday, I was thinking of it as neither The Environmentalist nor The Developer. Instead, I tried to look at Kondadai through the lens of a local resident.