Solar Panels on Farmland in Ichihara, Chiba

A solar facility above farmland started operation last month in Ichihara of Chiba prefecture.
This is the first case of the kind in Japan.

Needless to say, the sunlight is requisite for plants to grow. However, too much sunshine is rather harmful to them.

Mr. Nagashima, 70, who used to work for a farming appliance company, turned his attention to this point and eventually developed the system, which is named "Solar Sharing."

With this system, farmers can cut down the amount of irrigation water because plants will not receive too much sunlight.

Chiba Nippo: 2013/05/01 10:24
http://www.chibanippo.co.jp/c/news/politics/134795