Japanese village goes 100% solar power

A tiny Japanese village becomes the poster child for Japan’s bid to divorce itself from nuclear energy.

The village of Sanno, in Hyogo Prefecture, is the first in Japan to source all of its electricity from solar power. It has a population of some 40 persons whose average age is 60 years old.

Now standing in Sanno is an array of 216 solar panels built at a cost of US$215,000. The solar system is capable of generating 40,000 kwh annually, more than enough for Sanno’s 11 households.

The power produced won’t go directly to the households, however. The town’s arrangement with Kansai Electric Power Company (Kepco) is for the power firm to purchase Sanno’s solar power and redistribute it through the power grid.

Sanno is located some 80 kilometers from Oi, Fukui Prefecture, site of Kepco’s Ohi nuclear reactor plant, the first to be reactivated following the Fukushima disaster.