Kyocera Corporation and Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation have begun construction on the world 's largest floating solar power plant on the Sakura Dam reservoir in Japan , in what has been described as an innovative solution to the country 's shortage of flat ground space . The solar plant , which will be operational in 2018 , will consist of 51,000 individual solar modules which are clipped together and pushed out from the side of the lake , meaning heavy machinery is not required during the plant 's operation . Investing heavily in renewables, and particularly those that utilize space on rooftops or lakes, is part of Japan’s plan to become less reliant on imports. Japan has been investing heavily in renewables as it tries to reduce its dependence on oil and the floating solar panels utilise flat land on top of the country 's lakes .
Kyocera Corporation and Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation have begun construction on the world 's largest floating solar power plant on the Sakura Dam reservoir in Japan , in what has been described as an innovative solution to the country 's shortage of flat ground space . The solar plant , which will be operational in 2018 , will consist of 51,000 individual solar modules which are clipped together and pushed out from the side of the lake , meaning heavy machinery is not required during the plant 's operation . Japan has been investing heavily in renewables as it tries to reduce its dependence on oil and the floating solar panels utilise flat land on top of the country 's lakes .