Japan

Japanese scientists have developed a piezoelectric-photovoltaic cell with potential applications in indoor environments. They fabricated it on a flexible polyethylene terephthalate film with sputter-deposited ZnMgO thin film and photo-absorbing selenium as the n-type window layer and p-type layer, respectively.

Japan’s Arth has designed an autonomous habitation module that produces water in places without energy and water infrastructure. The company said the residential unit could also be used as an emergency evacuation site.

Mitsubishi and Japanese utility Kyushu Electric Power are teaming up to use more grid-scale storage, in order to reduce financial losses caused by curtailment.

Japan’s Rinnai has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first 100% hydrogen combustion technology for residential water heaters. It is currently using the hydrogen water heater in demonstration projects in Australia, prior to commercialization.

Toyota starts testing hydrogen cartridges for use in mobility, household applications in Shizuoka Prefecture. Meanwhile, China’s Shaanxi Normal University designed an aerogel method to substitute platinum with ruthenium in electrocatalytic water splitting, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is getting closer to fund the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $8 billion program, and UAE-based companies are stepping up cooperation with Azerbaijan, Japan and South Korea.

The battery has a rated output of 5.5 kW and can be installed in outdoor environments. It is equipped with a hybrid power conditioner, a DC-to-DC converter, and a vehicle power supply adapter with a maximum output of 1.1 kWh.

The new prototype uses a triple-junction compound design, which sandwiches the solar cell between layers of film. The module is expected to be used in a variety of vehicles, an application that demands high efficiency and lightweight construction. Its conversion efficiency bests that of a similar Sharp module developed in 2016, which notched an efficiency of 31.17%, at the time a world record.

The Japanese authorities will provide a maximum rebate of JPY 303,500 ($2,350)/kW for solar projects ranging in size from 10 kW to 50 kW. Projects above 50 kW will be assigned a rebate of JPY 205,900/kW.

Sharp’s new 375 W solar panels feature multi-wire technology, with a power conversion efficiency of 20.4%.

Scientists in Japan have developed new processes for CIGS solar cell manufacturing, entirely eliminating the use of cadmium and replacing a waste-intensive wet chemical stage. With a thin film deposited on a flexible steel substrate, the group achieved 16.7% efficiency, which it says is a record for a cell of this type produced using scalable fabrication processes.