Japan transforming its disused golf courses into solar farms

By Trevor Mogg July 7, 2015

japan transforming its disused golf courses into solar farms kyocera 3mw project in miyazaki prefecture — Part of another plant built by Kyocera on a disused golf course in western Japan. Kyocera

Fly out of any major airport in Japan and as the land opens up beneath you and you drift away from the urban areas it’s easy to make out numerous golf courses peppering the rugged terrain.

The sport is still popular among many of the nation’s salarymen, though the game clearly peaked in the bubble years of the late 1980s, when golf course development went into overdrive to keep up with demand.

Today, however, a declining population, pricey course fees, and the usual interest in “the next big thing” have seen the sport’s popularity decline, with an abundance of clubs leading to many going out of business.

So what to do with all these abandoned courses, many of which were carved into the sides of the country’s many mountains. Well, Japanese electronics maker Kyocera believes it has the answer – convert them into solar farms.

The company recently announced it’s started work on a 23-megawatt solar power plant on an abandoned golf course in Kyoto Prefecture. The plant will generate an estimated 26,000 megawatt hours per year, which should be enough electricity to power around 8,100 typical households.

The locations are perfect for such an initiative as the relatively cheap land has already been cut into mountains and is easily accessible.

Kyocera is also planning to build a solar farm on a second site near Kanoya City in the far south-west of the country. The project, to be constructed on another abandoned golf course location, is expected to generate a colossal 99,000 megawatt hours per year, making it one of the biggest solar installations in the country.

The steady move toward renewable energy follows the devastating Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in 2011. The country’s 50 or so nuclear plants remain offline, with the government forced to resort to costly energy imports until it decides which of the plants to put back into action.

Its current stated goal is to place less reliance on nuclear energy while increasing the current output of renewable alternatives over the next 15 years.

Kyocera is one of many companies making waves in the market. Just last month we reported on another of its projects, the world’s largest floating solar panel system.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Outdoors

The best portable power stations

EcoFlow DELTA 2 on table at campsite for quick charging.

Affordable and efficient portable power is a necessity these days, keeping our electronic devices operational while on the go. But there are literally dozens of options to choose from, making it abundantly difficult to decide which mobile charging solution is best for you. We've sorted through countless portable power options and came up with six of the best portable power stations to keep your smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets functioning while living off the grid.
The best overall: Jackery Explorer 1000

Jackery has been a mainstay in the portable power market for several years, and today, the company continues to set the standard. With three AC outlets, two USB-A, and two USB-C plugs, you'll have plenty of options for keeping your gadgets charged.

Emerging Tech

CES 2023: HD Hyundai’s Avikus is an A.I. for autonomous boat and marine navigation

Demonstration of NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

This content was produced in partnership with HD Hyundai.
Autonomous vehicle navigation technology is certainly nothing new and has been in the works for the better part of a decade at this point. But one of the most common forms we see and hear about is the type used to control steering in road-based vehicles. That's not the only place where technology can make a huge difference. Autonomous driving systems can offer incredible benefits to boats and marine vehicles, too, which is precisely why HD Hyundai has unveiled its Avikus AI technology -- for marine and watercraft vehicles.

More recently, HD Hyundai participated in the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, to demo its NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system for recreational boats. The name mashes together the words "neuron" and "boat" and is quite fitting since the Avikus' A.I. navigation tech is a core component of the solution, it will handle self-recognition, real-time decisions, and controls when on the water. Of course, there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes with HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation solution, which we'll dive into below -- HD Hyundai will also be introducing more about the tech at CES 2023.

Computing

This AI cloned my voice using just three minutes of audio

acapela group voice cloning ad

There's a scene in Mission Impossible 3 that you might recall. In it, our hero Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) tackles the movie's villain, holds him at gunpoint, and forces him to read a bizarre series of sentences aloud.

"The pleasure of Busby's company is what I most enjoy," he reluctantly reads. "He put a tack on Miss Yancy's chair, and she called him a horrible boy. At the end of the month, he was flinging two kittens across the width of the room ..."