Japan‘s Kanazawa University has begun testing perovskite solar cell technologies at a new testing field area within the solar park in the Kakuma Campus North Area, which has been in operation since April 2024.
The tests are being conducted by the university's researchers in partnership with experts from Japanese conglomerate Toshiba, semiconductor manufacturer Choshu Industry and the University of Electro-Communications.
Running through December 2026, the project will involve installing tandem perovskite solar cells equipped with lead-stabilization technology onto modules for outdoor evaluation.
Kanazawa University scientists recently conducted an extensive review of all back-contact (BC) solar cell types in an effort to accelerate their commercial development. The researchers categorized the devices based on their designs, charge-transport mechanisms, fabrication approaches, and emerging challenges, creating two main groups: interdigitated back-contact (IBC) cells and quasi-interdigitated back-contact (QIBC) devices.
In 2023, Toshiba achieved a power conversion of 16.6% for a 703cm2 polymer film-based perovskite solar module. “We provided large film-based perovskite PV module as experimental materials for demonstrations,” a spokesperson from the company told pv magazine at the time, referring to a project conducted at the Aobadai station in Yokohama that includes analyzing indoor performance.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said in November that it plans to deploy around 20 GW of new PV systems based on perovskite solar cell technology by 2040.
In October, Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) launched a six-year R&D program to advance large-scale manufacturing technologies and field testing of next-generation tandem perovskite solar cells.
A month earlier, NEDO outlined 24 research themes for a 2025-29 program to advance next-generation solar cells, system integration, grid stability, and recycling. Earlier this year, the energy R&D agency also published a solar strategy to advance next-generation PV cells, site-specific systems, module recycling, and long-term operational stability, supporting Japan’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
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Is it like a stunt or scene testing stage where someone is in charge of yelling ‘reset!’ and reshooting the performance run? I’d think urban Vietnam or Myanmar are the places for crazy hot or humid drafts, but it’s good to have one for Japan well south of Sapporo.
…those NEDO projects sure lard out research uses. Hooray!