Japan

GM and Autocar Industries have agreed to jointly develop hydrogen-powered heavy-duty vehicles using GM’s Hydrotec power cubes, while European lawmakers have reached a provisional agreement on common market rules for renewable gases and hydrogen.

Japan’s Toshiba says its new PV output photocoupler for solid-state relay could be used for battery management systems, onboard chargers, and inverters.

The new cobalt-free battery yields about 60% greater energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries for an equivalent weight and volume and sustains unprecedented 1,000 cycles.

At COP28, Masdar revealed a $16 billion investment deal with Iberdrola for green energy projects in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Masdar also signed a memorandum to assess the feasibility of a green hydrogen plant near the Port of Aqaba in Jordan.

Sharp’s new IEC61215- and IEC61730-certified solar panels have an operating temperature coefficient of -0.30% per C and a bifaciality factor of over 80%.

Toshiba has developed a 1.5 Ah lithium-ion battery prototype with a voltage of more than 3 V. The device retains its initial efficiency for over 6,000 charge/discharge cycles and enables rapid charging to 80% of capacity within just five minutes.

Daikin has released a line of residential air-to-air heat pumps, using difluoromethane (R32) as the refrigerant, with outdoor unit dimensions of 662 mm x 442 mm x 1022 mm. The output ranges from 2.5 kW to 3.5 kW, and the seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) is between 4.85 and 5.17.

Japan’s latest procurement exercise was open to PV projects above 250 kW in size. The lowest price came in at JPY 7.94 ($0.053)/kWh, with 105 MW of allocated capacity.

Intended for applications in commercial buildings, the new VRV 5 heat pumps have reportedly a 9.1% higher seasonal efficiency compared to the company’s previous models. The new products use difluoromethane (R32) as the refrigerant.

Dutch company Gasunie will collaborate with two German transmission system operators (TSOs) and one Danish TSO to import green hydrogen from the Netherlands and Denmark. Meanwhile, French independent power producer (IPP) HDF Energy commits to co-develop project in Morocco, and two Japanese companies move ahead with hydrogen production plant in Malaysia.