Japan

A Japanese consortium is piloting agrivoltaics using film-type perovskite solar cells over rice paddies to study energy generation alongside crop production. The three-year project will assess impacts on rice yield, land use, and emissions while testing the technology’s performance and commercial viability.

A random malware variant affected about 800 remote monitoring devices at ground-mounted PV plants in Japan in May 2024. Tokyo-based cybersecurity firm Girasol Energy has told pv magazine what happened and how PV asset owners can protect themselves against such incidents.

Japanese clean energy infrastructure solutions company GBP K.K. has announced the launch of a mesh security fencing solution for grid-scale solar developments and acoustic panel fencing for utility battery storage sites for developments close to residential areas.

The lab-scale, near-white heterojunction solar cell uses nanoclay-based scattering layers combined with dielectric multilayer films to preserve power conversion efficiency while enhancing visual appeal. The researchers report optical losses of less than 1% at a 50% clay volume fraction, which are significantly lower than those observed with textured glass.

Perth-headquartered resources and technology company Australian Vanadium Limited’s subsidiary VSUN Energy will partner with Japanese manufacturer Sumitomo Electric Industries in its bid to develop Western Australia’s planned 500 MWh Kalgoorlie vanadium battery project.

Queensland based critical minerals company Graphinex is collaborating with Japanese entities to deliver graphite from its proposed $1.3 billion Esmeralda mine project to Japan, and create a fully integrated graphite-to-anode supply chain.

Japanese researchers have found sodium-ion batteries using hard carbon anodes can intrinsically charge faster than lithium-ion batteries, challenging long-held assumptions in battery research.

Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has started accepting submissions for new road-surface PV technologies, with field verification planned in pedestrian areas at roadside stations to test performance and electricity use ahead of societal implementation.

Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic is testing its glass-based perovskite solar PV technology in office windows made by YKK AP, a construction and building materials company.

Two Japanese companies have announced a partnership to advance the recycling of solar panel cover glass for application in architectural flat glass production.