Japan's Kyocera Corporation and a subsidiary of SoftBank Group jointly announced Sunday that their solar power plant began operation in western Japanese city of Kyoto, a move coincides with the start of Japan's new feed-in tariff (FIT) for renewable energy.

The solar power plant, designed by the Kyoto-based Kyocera Group, was constructed as the first of two phases of the overall project at the SoftBank Kyoto Solar Park located in the southern edge of Kyoto City.

According to Kyocera, the 2.1-megawatte solar power plant, which is equipped with 8,680 solar panels, is able to supply power for about 580 households.

The two companies said that the total area of the solar park is approximately 89,000 square meters, and the second phase of the project has already begun construction since June, operation is expected to begin in September.

From Sunday, the Japanese government started its feed-in tariff scheme to accelerate renewable energy promotion.

Kyocera spokesperson Elly Yoshikawa told Xinhua that the introduction of this new feed-in tariff scheme for renewable energy is a significant step towards the expansion of the photovoltaic market in Japan.

She stressed that the company will aggressively take part in any "mega-solar" projects with its comprehensive knowledge and experience concerning solar products, installation, engineering and after-service which it has cultivated over the past decades.