The energy company said on Thursday it has patented a simultaneous rice farming and solar energy generation system for the first time in the country, placing solar panels in rice paddies to get the best of both worlds. (Image: KHNP)
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corporation (KHNP) has patented a new rice farming system that can also generate solar energy.
The energy company said on Thursday it has patented a simultaneous rice farming and solar energy generation system for the first time in the country, placing solar panels in rice paddies to get the best of both worlds.
The distance between solar energy modules is designed to be wide enough for people, rice planting machinery, tractors and combines to pass through with ease, resulting in minimal impact on farming operations.
With farmland accounting for around 16 percent of South Korean territory, the KHNP is hopeful the new technology can give farmers another source of income and contribute to renewable energy generation.
Though a similar system has been introduced in Japan, the KHNP’s system uses high-efficiency 72 cell solar panels.
Last June, the KHNP began trialing the solar energy generation system on farms, and the crop yield reached 86 percent of what a regular farm produces last November.
The KHNP says it will expand large-scale solar energy generation projects on farms, and create new renewable energy businesses in areas near nuclear power plants.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
