Japan

The Japanese trading firm has started selling its new Smart Star L lithium-ion storage battery system for the Japanese residential PV market. It has designed the system in cooperation with Yokohama-based manufacturer NF Corp.

Net income hit $3.3 million in the 12 months to the end of December, from a net loss of $1.6 million a year earlier, although the Hong Kong-based PV independent power producer recorded a net loss of $8.7 million in the fourth quarter, from $7.4 million in the final three months of 2015.

The CIS thin-film PV specialist has posted an operating loss of JPY 3 billion ($26.4 million) in the three months to March 31, from JPY 2.6 billion a year earlier. Net sales fell 41.3% on the year to JPY 22.2 billion.

The Japanese electronics group posted a net profit attributable to shareholders of JPY 149.4 billion ($1.3 billion) in the fiscal year to the end of March — from JPY 165.2 billion a year earlier — as declining sales of solar panels in Japan eroded its earnings. The group’s net sales fell more than 3% on the year to JPY 7343.7 billion, although its operating profit rose to JPY 276.8 billion, from just JPY 230.3 billion a year earlier.

Ten energy companies from nine nations have joined forces to provide $2.5 million support for the Energy Web Foundation (EWF), a global non-profit organization focused on accelerating blockchain technology across the energy sector.

The Japanese group’s net income attributable to shareholders fell from JPY 109,047 million ($970.9 million) to JPY 103,843 million in the 12 months to the end of March 2017, partly due to declining sales from its solar business. It did not reveal its total PV module shipments for the year.

A joint venture of four Japanese firms invest $315 million for a solar project in the south of the country. The solar park is scheduled to start operation in January 2020, producing 99 MWh annually.

The Tokyo-based developer has begun construction on what it claims will be Japan’s biggest PV project upon completion in September 2019.

The Japanese manufacturer says it expects to produce about 1 GW of solar panels in the year to March 2018, roughly in line with its output in the preceding fiscal year.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has said that it may cancel feed-in tariff (FIT) approvals for 456,000 projects, or roughly 27.6 GW of capacity, as the prospective developers of those projects failed to lock in grid-connection agreements by the government’s March 31 deadline.