Solar power facility installation completed at Miyagi school
Miyato elementary school students touch the solar generator.
Photo from Coca-Cola Japan
TOKYO —
The Coca-Cola Japan Reconstruction Fund held a ceremony at the Miyato Elementary School in Higashi Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, on Monday to commemorate the completion of solar power facilities for which the fund provided a substantial grant.
The Fund decided to provide assistance after evaluating a request to help reinforce disaster management with new solar power facilities and to help educate pupils about clean energy. The Fund is paying a consumption tax-inclusive grant of up to 30 million yen to acquire and install solar facilities. They comprise an emergency solar generator with a maximum capacity of 20 kilowatts and storage batteries with an aggregate capacity of up to 16 kilowatts.
The solar panels were installed on the roof of the school building, while the storage batteries are in a storage shed on the premises. A monitor in the hallway helps students evaluate performance by displaying the amount of electricity generated, carbon dioxide reductions, and other information. The new solar facilities will contribute to almost all of the school’s regular electricity requirements while functioning as a valuable source of emergency power.
The Great East Japan Earthquake cut access through the sole road from the mainland to Miyato Island, prompting almost all of its residents to seek shelter at the Miyato Elementary School. It took around a month and a half to restore power, highlighting issues with shelter facilities. The new solar generation setup reinforced disaster management while providing hope that the 1,000 or so residents can use this shelter as a hub for community restoration.
The Coca-Cola Japan Reconstruction Fund decided to provide grants to purchase and install
solar generating facilities under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The grants are to assist public elementary and junior high schools in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures, which the Great East Japan Earthquake hit hardest, and help educate students about the benefits of clean energy.
The fund aims to provide assistance to a total of 50 schools in three rounds between Sept 1, 2011, and March 31, 2014. In September 2012, the fund plans to start its second round of soliciting applications for solar facilities grants as part of its ongoing disaster recovery assistance program.
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basroil
30 million yen for 16kWh of batteries (kW and kWh are not interchangeable) and 20 kW of panels? That's double the industry rate!
Smells like a tax rebate loophole rather than any real progress. 16kWh is awfully small for a battery, and 20kW is fairly undersized. Would have made more financial sense to just install a gas turbine generator, or even wind for that matter.
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ebisen
so let's see - 16 kWh is similar with Mitsubishi's iMiEV or smaller than Nissan's Leaf battery. Considering it is a static battery, I assume it should not cost more than 2 million yen. 20 kW worth of panels should not cost more than 12 million yen (I paid 3 million yen for 5.75 kW of Sanyo HIT 230 panels, the most efficient and most expensive in the industry). Let's say a total of 15 million yen for the system cost.
So where did they spend the rest? Are they using tracking devices (that double the cost of panel installation and doubles the production)? No explanation otherwise.
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tokyokawasaki
TIJ - (This Is Japan) This means someone somewhere was willingly overcharged due to friends, connections and 'brown envelopes. All this cleverly hidden behind the mask of doing charity related work.... The WHOLE system in Japan is corrupt...
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gogogo
ebisen: Love to know where you purchased your cells from!
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bajhista65
I wonder why people are whining and complaining about organization trying their best to have clean energy in Japan. At least there are some trying for the better and safety no matter how much KWH or KW it can produced. What we need here is to encourage and not to discourage building clean energy machineries. IMHO and no offense.
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basroil
bajhista65Jul. 12, 2012 - 12:38AM JST
If they were actually trying their best it would be one thing. They are installing systems at twice the industry rate, and who knows if it was even done properly.
These also aren't machines, rather immobile solar panels that will produce maybe 14000 kWh a year. Even with a 42 yen/kWh fit it will take 50 years to recoup the "investment" that lasts at most 20 years. This isn't progress, it's waste.
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