
Japan sees bright future for ultra-thin, flexible solar panels
The push faces some obstacles: perovskite panels contain toxic lead, and, for now, produce less power and have shorter lifespans than their silicon counterparts. Still, with a goal of net-zero by 2050 and a desire to break China's solar supremacy, perovskite cells are 'our best card to achieve both decarbonization and industrial competitiveness,' minister of industry Yoji Muto said in November.
'We need to succeed in their implementation in society at all costs,' he said. The government is offering generous incentives to get industry on board, including a 157-billion-yen ($1 billion) subsidy to plastic maker Sekisui Chemical for a factory to produce enough perovskite solar panels to generate 100 megawatts by 2027, enough to power 30,000 households.
By 2040, Japan wants to install enough perovskite panels to generate 20 gigawatts of electricity, equivalent to adding about 20 nuclear reactors. That should help Japan's target to have renewable energy cover up to 50 percent of electricity demand by 2040.
The nation is looking to solar power, including perovskite and silicon-based solar cells, to cover up to 29 percent of all electricity demand by that time, a sharp rise from 9.8 percent in 2023. 'To increase the amount of renewable energy and achieve carbon neutrality, I think we will have to mobilize all the technologies available,' said Hiroshi Segawa, a specialist in next-generation solar technology at the University of Tokyo. 'Perovskite solar panels can be built domestically, from the raw materials to production to installation. In that sense, they could significantly contribute to things like energy security and economic security,' he told AFP. Tokyo wants to avoid a repeat of the past boom and bust of the Japanese solar business.
In the early 2000s, Japanese-made silicon solar panels accounted for almost half the global market.
Now, China controls more than 80 percent of the global solar supply chain, from the production of key raw material to assembling modules. Silicon solar panels are made of thin wafers that are processed into cells that generate electricity. They must be protected by reinforced glass sheets and metal frames, making the final products heavy and cumbersome.
Perovskite solar cells, however, are created by printing or painting ingredients such as iodine and lead onto surfaces like film or sheet glass. The final product can be just a millimeter thick and a tenth the weight of a conventional silicon solar cell. Perovskite panels' malleability means they can be installed on uneven and curved surfaces, a key feature in Japan, where 70 percent of the country is mountainous.
The panels are already being incorporated into several projects, including a 46-storey Tokyo building to be completed by 2028. The southwestern city of Fukuoka has also said it wants to cover a domed baseball stadium with perovskite panels.
And major electronics brand Panasonic is working on integrating perovskite into windowpanes. 'What if all of these windows had solar cells integrated in them?' said Yukihiro Kaneko, general manager of Panasonic's perovskite PV development department, gesturing to the glass-covered high-rise buildings surrounding the firm's Tokyo office.
That would allow power to be generated where it is used, and reduce the burden on the national grid, Kaneko added. For all the enthusiasm, perovskite panels remain far from mass production.
They are less efficient than their silicon counterparts, and have a lifespan of just a decade, compared to 30 years for conventional units. The toxic lead they contain also means they need careful disposal after use. However, the technology is advancing fast. Some prototypes can perform nearly as powerfully as silicon panels and their durability is expected to reach 20 years soon. University professor Segawa believes Japan could have a capacity of 40 gigawatts from perovskite by 2040, while the technology could also speed up renewable uptake elsewhere.
'We should not think of it as either silicon or perovskite. We should look at how we can maximise our ability to utilize renewable energy,' Segawa said. 'If Japan could show a good model, I think it can be brought overseas.' – AFP
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Kuwait News Agency
20 hours ago
- Kuwait News Agency
Japan PM orders ministers to limit impact of US trade deal
TOKYO, July 25 (KUNA) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday instructed the relevant Cabinet ministers to take measures to minimize the impact of the recent tariff deal with the US. "We aimed to reach an agreement that would contribute to the national interests of both Japan and the US. We were able to achieve exactly that kind of agreement with President Trump," Ishiba told a government task force meeting attended by all Cabinet members. On Tuesday, Japan and the US clinched trade deal that set a 15 percent tariff rate on all export items to the US, including automobiles, lower than 25 percent rate proposed by US President Donald Trump. Under the deal, Japan will invest USD 550 billion in the US and increase the amount of American rice imported within the framework of minimum access. "What happens next is extremely important. We export not only automobiles, but many other products to the US. It is important to steadily implement the trade deal and to fully prepare to limit the impact on domestic industries and employment," Ishiba said, stressing that the government will take all possible measures to support domestic exports to the US. In addition, the premier urged the ministers to analyze the possible impact of the tariffs, provide financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises and small businesses, and manage the progress of the implementation of the agreement. (end)

Kuwait Times
a day ago
- Kuwait Times
Tunisia prez shows Trump adviser pics of hungry Gaza kids
CARTHAGE: Tunisian President Kais Saied shows Massad Boulos, senior adviser to the US president for Africa, pictures of starving children in Gaza during their meeting at the presidential palace on July 22, 2025. — AFP TUNIS: Tunisian President Kais Saied presented US counterpart Donald Trump's senior Africa adviser with photographs of starving children in Gaza, official video of their meeting posted late Tuesday showed. Saied told US envoy Massad Boulos, who is also the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany, that 'it is time for all of humanity to wake up and put an end to these crimes against the Palestinian people'. 'I believe you know these images well,' Saied was seen telling the envoy as he showed a photograph of what he described as 'a child crying, eating sand in occupied Palestine'. Saied showed Boulos several more images, saying that Palestinians in Gaza were subjected to crimes against humanity. 'It is absolutely unacceptable,' Saied was heard saying as Boulos stood silently, occasionally nodding. 'It is a crime against all of humanity.' Following his visit to Tunisia, Boulos flew on to the Libyan capital Tripoli on Wednesday, Tunisian media reported. — AFP

Kuwait Times
a day ago
- Kuwait Times
Houthi cargo ship attacks amount to war crimes: HRW
HODEIDA: People displaced by conflict gather to top up their jerrycans with water drawn from a well at a makeshift camp in Hays, south of Hodeida in eastern Yemen.— AFP BEIRUT: Human Rights Watch on Wednesday condemned Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels for deadly attacks that sank two commercial vessels this month, calling them violations of the laws of war. The Houthis struck the Magic Seas and Eternity C cargo ships in the Red Sea, part of a campaign against maritime traffic they accuse of having links to Zionist entity, launched over the Gaza war. Fifteen people—including four confirmed dead—remain missing after the July 7 attack on the Eternity C. The Yemeni rebels claimed to have 'rescued' an unspecified number of crew, whose whereabouts are still unknown. The attacks were 'violations of the laws of war amounting to war crimes', Human Rights Watch said in a statement, adding it found 'no evidence that the ships were military targets'. 'They deliberately attacked commercial vessels that could clearly be identified as civilian,' the New York-based group said, adding that 'detaining rescued crew members is also prohibited'. Rebel leader Abdel Malek Al-Houthi justified the attacks, saying both ships belonged to companies serving Zionist ports. But HRW said the ships had no connection to Zionist entity and were not heading there. The Magic Seas was en route to Turkey from China carrying fertiliser and steel billets when it was attacked on July 6. The Eternity C was heading to Saudi Arabia from Somalia after delivering humanitarian aid for the United Nations World Food Programme. 'The Houthis have sought to justify unlawful attacks by pointing to Israeli violations against Palestinians,' said Niku Jafarnia, HRW's Yemen and Bahrain researcher. 'The Houthis should end all attacks on ships not taking part in the conflict and immediately release the crew members in their custody,' she added. Since November 2023, the rebels have carried out more than 100 attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to the Joint Maritime Information Centre, run by a Western naval coalition. HRW said it had previously found those actions to be war crimes.– AFP It also warned of environmental risks, citing findings by Wim Zwijnenburg of Dutch peace organization PAX. Zwijnenburg said satellite imagery showed large oil slicks trailing from the sites where both vessels sank, threatening wildlife in a protected nature reserve off Eritrea's coast. Oil was also reportedly washing ashore near a fishing community, he was quoted as saying. – AFP