SOLVISTO

The heavy snowfall of February hit prefectures well ahead in terms of PV installations
Numerous instances of damage to panels and framework

In February, while the world was engrossed by the Winter Olympic games being
held in Sochi, a wonder of nature in the form of a major snowfall left its scars
specially in the Kanto and Koshin-Etsu areas. Twice, during the first part of the
month and then again in the middle of the month, a low pressure area passed
over the southern coast of Japan, hitting large areas with a heavy snowfall.
From the 14th to the 16th the snow accumulated to quite a depth, making for a
record snowfall greatly exceeding anything ever recorded in the past. This
record breaking snowfall might well put the PV industry which has still not yet
started to spread into full scale use to a major test. We looked into the status of
the damage caused by the major snowfall.