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Toyota Completes Largest Roof-Mounted Solar Power System in Victoria, Australia

Autonomous Energy installed 500kW of high-efficiency

500kW of KYOCERA high-efficiency solar panels installed by Autonomous Energy now provide renewable energy to Toyota’s Melbourne plant

Autonomous Energy has announced the completion of a 500kW solar power system at Toyota Motor Corporation Australia’s manufacturing plant in Melbourne. 2,000 Kyocera solar panels now cover the roof of Toyota Australia’s Engine Factory at its Altona North plant. It is the largest roof-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) system in Victoria and the third largest nationally.

“One of the exciting things about this project was the number of firsts for solar in Australia,” Says Mario Como, Production Engineer at Toyota Australia. “For example we are the first site to directly connect a solar array to an industrial site’s internal high-voltage network via a single 500kW Central Inverter and transformer.”

The 500kW Central Inverter and transformer were manufactured by leading power engineering company ABB, this being the largest ABB inverter installed in Australia to date.

To read the entire article, go HERE.

Courtesy of Renew Economy.

Kyocera Solar Showcases Reliable Solar Lighting Options and Project Solutions at LightFair International Tradeshow

In Las Vegas from June 3 through 5, Kyocera Solar representatives staffed a booth at LightFair International, the world’s largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference that features innovative products ranging from high-end design to cutting-edge technology.

Kyocera attended the conference both to showcase both its solar lighting options and its Project Solutions Group, which provides design, installation, maintenance and even financing options for solar installations.

Kyocera Solar Lighting
Kyocera’s solar lighting options enable customers to increase safety in an environmentally friendly way while lowering their electric bill.

“Kyocera introduced the industry’s first solar-powered street lamps and traffic signs in the early 1980s,” explained Craig Robertson, Kyocera Sales Manager. “Now, we offer solar lighting for parking structures, courtyards, fields, parks, roads, walkways, and other safety and convenience applications.”

Kyocera’s solar streetlight options offer ease of installation. They can be deployed anywhere without the need for power cables. This makes Kyocera’s solar streetlight ideal for retrofitting existing parking lots or other paved areas. The streetlights can be easily deployed without digging power lines into the existing pavement.

At LightFair, Kyocera’s customer, Phoenix-based Solar King, displayed a state-of-the-art solar streetlight in the Kyocera booth so that customers could inspect the product and learn how it works. Solar King uses high-quality, reliable Kyocera KC-140 solar panels exclusively in its streetlight products. Kyocera is proud to work with a company that produces such a high-quality, dependable product.

“Solar King’s streetlights require no trenching, are entirely self-contained and offer very low maintenance,” Craig explained. “Once installed, customers generally don’t have to perform any maintenance operations whatsoever on the streetlights for up to 5 years.”

Solar King streetlights have a controller that uses the solar panel as a photo eye to determine if it’s light or dark outside. Customers control when the light turns on based on sunlight availability. The lights can run for the entire night or just during specific hours, depending on system design.

Solar lighting can be deployed virtually anywhere, providing reliable lighting wherever it’s installed. The application opportunities are endless, whether it’s used to illuminate highway billboards, parking lots or to keep bus shelters visible at night. It’s a smart option to consider.

Kyocera Project Solutions
During the LightFair show, Kyocera representatives had the opportunity to meet with energy managers of large corporations interested in installing solar to lower their electric bills.

“Kyocera’s project solutions group provides financing, design and build and PV systems for buildings, parking lots or whatever best suits the customer’s site,” Craig stated. “Many forward-thinking companies are interested in installing solar power to lower their electric bills and stabilize future power costs so they can focus on growing their businesses.”

Kyocera’s financial strength and market history makes us one of the most trusted manufacturers in the field, with four decades of experience and more than five gigawatts of solar collection equipment manufactured and installed worldwide. Kyocera has driven the market as a proven leader in quality and reliability.

Our solar modules are engineered to exceed industry standards, with best-in-class components.  Kyocera’s solar power systems are built to maximize an investor’s returns. Our modules’ longlasting performance and resilient construction provide a hedge against rising utility costs over the system’s lifetime.

To learn more about Kyocera Project Solutions or Kyocera Solar Lighting options, contact us at 800-223-9580 or infosolar@kyocera.com.

KYOCERA’s Accumulated Solar Module Production Exceeds 5GW; 1.4GW Targeted for FY2015

Company marks June 21 World Solar Day by working to make solar energy more widely usable, in combination with storage and communications technologies

Kyocera Corporation announced that its total accumulated production of solar modules since 1975 has exceeded the 5 gigawatt (GW) milestone. For comparison, 5GW of solar modules would be sufficient to supply individual 3.5-kilowatt PV systems for more than 1.4 million homes. In the current fiscal year (April 2014 to March 2015), the company is targeting annual production of 1.4GW, up from approximately 1.2GW in the previous fiscal year.

Kyocera’s rapid increase in solar production in recent years has been spurred by rising global demand for renewable energy resources. Solar is becoming an attractive solution for countries, businesses and consumers who want to reduce their impact on the environment and dependence on coal and nuclear energies. This has become most evident in Japan over the past few years, where an aggressive feed-in-tariff program launched in July 2012 has seen an unprecedented rise in the adoption of solar. Kyocera has also taken proactive measures to further its solar business by becoming an independent power producer.

Some of the larger solar installations using high-quality, efficient Kyocera modules include: - Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar Power Plant: a 70 megawatt (MW) solar field in Kagoshima Bay, one of Japan’s largest solar power plants.

  • AV Solar II: a utility-scale installation in Arizona, U.S.A., using 25MW of Kyocera modules.
  • U.S. Light Energy: 9.4MW of installations in New York State, U.S.A., financed by Kyocera.
  • Thai PV Program: Solar farms at 35 locations totaling approximately 260MW.
  • Salamanca and Dulcinea, Spain: Kyocera modules power Planta Solar de Salamanca (13.8MW) and Planta Solar de Dulcinea (28.8MW).

​To read the entire article, go HERE.