Home / Asia / Japan / Suwa

Suwa

Solar power plant in Nagano, Japan. Approximate location 36.017, 138.053.

SolarNaganoJapan

Suwa is a 47 MW solar power plant in Nagano, Japan. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 19,912 homes (estimated). It ranks #294 of 659 Japan power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, solar supplies about 9.8% of Japan's electricity; the national grid averages 477 gCO₂/kWh (32.7% low-carbon) (2025).

47MW installed capacity
19,912homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WKS0067921.

Capacity vs largest solar plants in Japan

Setouchi: 230 MW230SetouchiTomatoh Abira Solar Power Plant: 111 MW111Tomatoh Ab…Hosoe: 96 MW96HosoeOita - Marubeni Solar Power Plant: 82 MW82Oita - Mar…Kagoshima - Nanatsujima Solar Power Plant: 70 MW70Kagoshima …Rokkasho - Takahoko Solar Power Plant: 65 MW65Rokkasho -…Minamisoma: 60 MW60MinamisomaShin Mine CS: 56 MW56Shin Mine …

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Local climate & thermal context

This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 36.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

8.9°Cannual mean temp
3,461heating degree-days (base 18°C)
171cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,124 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -3 °CJF: -2 °CFM: 1 °CMA: 8 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 16 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 21 °CAS: 17 °CSO: 11 °CON: 5 °CND: 0 °CD21 °C

Heating degree-days here run 41% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 75/100 — this site sits in the top third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Solar PV loses ~0.35%/°C above 25°C cell temperature — roughly 0.0% at warm-season highs here (estimate).

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #15 largest solar power plant of 324 in Japan by capacity.

Japan has 324 solar power plants in this dataset, together about 5,687 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 36.017, 138.053 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.