Japan is well known for its commitment to the development of solar power through its Sunshine Project. This was established in 1974 to find solutions to basic energy problems, and to consider environmental factors in this activity.

The Kansai Electric Power Company Inc. (KEPCO), one of Japan's major utilities, operates the Rokko Test Centre for Advanced Energy Systems. This is located on Rokko Island, a man-made island near the city of Kobe.

The Centre is operated by KEPCO together with the Central Research Institute of the Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), with financial support from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The objectives of the work being undertaken are to investigate and evaluate the utility interface with small dispersed PV generators, to understand the effects of PV systems on the utility grid and to establish reliable interconnection and central technologies.

A total of 500 kWp of photovoltaic systems are on test at the centre. Two hundred fixed PV arrays of between 2 kWp and 5 kWp are installed both on prefabricated houses and ground mountings. Each has an inverter and different loads are simulated in the houses. A 6,6 kV distribution feeder from KEPCO's substation supplies power to an open-air distribution simulation testing installation through a transformer. A sophisticated data acquisition and monitoring system ensures detailed results of the testing programme.

The Rokko Test Centre is playing a leading role in the IEA  PVPS project on the design and grid-interconnection of building integrated and other dispersed PV power systems.

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