Japan

The Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA) has released a voluntary reference guide to support adoption of vertical bifacial PV in Japan, outlining design, performance, and compliance considerations for projects in snow-prone, high-latitude, and space-constrained conditions.

SoftBank Group is piloting AI-controlled cellular base stations powered by solar panels and a 3 kW wind turbine to reduce energy use while maintaining service quality. The system stores excess power in batteries and can automatically switch to the grid when needed.

A team of scientists has simulated covering 20% of the Qush-Tepa irrigation canal with PV panels. To this end, the researchers developed a framework, termed an integrated techno-economic-environmental assessment, that can be applied elsewhere. “It explicitly quantifies energy production, water-evaporation reduction, land-use savings, and economic performance within a single analytical structure,” one of the researchers said.

RWE has started commissioning a 100 MW electrolyzer in Germany to supply renewable hydrogen under long-term contracts, while Hydrogen Utopia International and Hydrogen Systems are advancing plans to build waste-to-hydrogen plants in Saudi Arabia.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Japan Suiso Energy will construct a 40,000 cubic meter vessel designed to meet global hydrogen demand in the 2030s.

In two separate projects Japan-based Kyuden Mirai Energy and Nissan Motor are demonstrating the use of flexible, glass-free chalcopyrite PV panels provided by PXP Corporation.

A team at Tokyo University of Science (TUS) has identified a structural mechanism by which adding small amounts of scandium to layered sodium manganese oxide cathodes slows the degradation that typically limits sodium-ion battery lifetimes.

Researchers in Japan have developed an effective encapsulation with a PET front cover for copper indium gallium diselenide mini-modules. The lab devices withstood damp heat tests, retaining approximately 97 % of initial efficiency after 3,600 h.

Japan is set to impose stricter environmental oversight on future large-scale solar projects. The government may also discontinue financial support under its feed-in tariff and feed-in premium schemes for large, ground-mounted solar beginning April 2027.

Researchers at Tokyo University of Science showed that sodium-ion batteries with hard carbon anodes can charge faster than lithium-ion batteries by using a diluted electrode method that reveals sodium insertion is intrinsically quicker than lithium.