March 21, 2013 – Solar Frontier K.K. and Yano Industry Co., Ltd. have completed and connected to the grid two megawatt-scale solar power plants in Kunitomi, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, totaling 3.3MW of power. Utilizing Solar Frontier's CIS thin-film modules, Solar Frontier will operate the 2.2MW plant and Yano Industry will operate the 1.1MW plant.
A launch ceremony was held today in Kunitomi on the Japanese island of Kyushu by the two companies. The solar power plants have become the first on-stream references of collaboration in Japan between Solar Frontier, BELECTRIC, and Shoseki Engineering & Construction (SEC), which provided engineering, procurement and construction functions on the projects. BELECTRIC, which formed a joint venture with Solar Frontier in Europe based on its extensive knowhow in deploying CIS installations at maximum competitive performance, completes its first project in Japan with these two plants.
The project marks the expansion of Solar Frontier into the downstream solar value chain, where Solar Frontier builds and operates solar power plants as an independent power producer (IPP). The plants can be sold as turn-key projects to investor clients. Solar Frontier, BELECTRIC, and SEC will reference the projects for future collaboration together in Japan.
The grid connected plants are on 7 hectares of land owned by Yano Industry in the Oaza Kiwaki area of Kunitomi.