Japanese Manufacturers Look to Cash in on Solar Power Boom
Source: judythpiazza at gmail.com
U.S. Renewable & Alternative Energy News
http://newsblaze.com/story/20070220004920tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html
With the global-warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” hot at the box office and a recent report by the U.N. laying the blame for climate change and rising sea levels at humanity’s feet, renewable energy sources are getting a fresh look. In particular, the spotlight is falling on solar power, which is expected to gain ground in Europe thanks in large measure to government support.
Generally seen pitched atop roofs, solar panels will soon be catching rays in myriad other ways: replacing windows and providing extra power to cars and vending machines, to name a few. “We believe the solar power market has the potential for long-term growth . . . mainly led by strong demand in the European Union,” said Takashi Tomita, general manager at Sharp Corp.’s solar group.
A hydrogen filling station at Honda Motor Co.’s experimental facility in Los Angeles uses electricity from solar panels to split hydrogen from water. According to market research firm Yano Research Institute Ltd., solar cell production worldwide jumped 29.5 percent year on year to 1787.7 megawatts in terms of power generation capacity in 2005 and is expected to grow more than threefold by 2015.
Sharp is the world’s largest solar cell and module maker with a market share of roughly 25 percent, or 428 megawatts, in 2005. Japanese manufacturers, including Kyocera Corp., Sanyo Electric Co. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp, are dominating the market with a combined production that accounts for about 50 percent of all output.
This year, the solar power market will see yet more Japanese companies – Honda Motor Co., Fuji Electric Systems Co. and Showa Shell Sekiyu KK – making a full-scale entry. “Our advantage is that we have various types of solar batteries,” Tomita said, referring to Sharp’s extensive product line and long history of research and development.
Sharp, which hopes to boost solar power sales to 235 billion yen in fiscal 2007, up 18 percent from the previous year, began developing photovoltaic cells and panels in 1959 and started mass-production in 1963. Initially, the use of the technology was limited to lighthouses and space satellites, and it was only in 1994 that it first began selling photovoltaic systems for ordinary houses.
Decades of R&D efforts are finally paying off.
The firm is now marketing transparent solar panels that let sunlight through, thereby doubling as windows. The company’s solar windows will be installed in the walls of a large commercial complex under construction in Chiba Prefecture. “We are looking to market (our solar panels) for a variety of uses other than just for housing,” Tomita said, citing automobiles as the next promising market.
Sharp is also in talks with several domestic and foreign automakers on ways photovoltaic technologies can help reduce car emissions. Tomita said solar panels could be installed on the roof of a car and provide electricity to supplement the power of the gas engine.
Honda, whose first solar cell plant in Kumamoto Prefecture will begin production this fall, is also looking to apply the technology to automobiles. “The ultimate (goal) is to realize a system like the one we have in Los Angeles,” said Honda spokeswoman Yasuko Matsuura.
There, at an experimental facility, electricity generated by Honda’s photovoltaic system breaks down water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is then used to fill a fuel-cell vehicle. But Matsuura said Honda has a long way to go before actually reaching the commercial stage, adding the automaker first has to focus on getting its residential photovoltaic business on the right track.
Honda plans to produce solar panels that can generate 27.5 megawatts annually, enough to power 10,000 homes, and hopes to log 6 billion yen to 8 billion yen in annual sales in 2009. Honda plans to take advantage of its global car sales network to market its new solar panels. “Honda’s strong sales network could be a threat to us,” Sharp’s Tomita said.
Another newcomer is Fuji Electric Systems Co., whose new plant in Kumamoto will begin full-scale production of solar panels in April. The firm aims to produce 12 megawatts this year. Dubbed thin-film amorphous solar cells, Fuji Electric’s solar panels use little silicon and are light and thin enough to be rolled up and folded, said Masahiro Masubuchi, a senior general manager of the firm’s planning department.
“The products can be used as a portable power source in case of disaster, or you can put them on top of a tent and store the electricity in a battery,” Masubuchi said. The first thin-film solar cells were released in December and the firm is currently studying how the new product can be applied to various products.
Masubuchi said the products can also be installed on vending machines or be used to charge cell phone batteries. Izumi Suda, an analyst at Yano Research Institute, said the emergence of new photovoltaic products will encourage widespread use of solar power and lead to market expansion.
But Japanese manufacturers will not be able to sit back and relax. Competition in the global market is likely to further intensify as a result of various mergers and acquisitions of solar power manufacturers internationally. Suda pointed out that the rise of European and Chinese producers, including German maker Q-Cells AG, could threaten the dominance of Japanese manufacturers, and that to overcome the tough competition Japanese makers should utilize their already advanced technological capabilities to reduce costs.
“Japanese makers will have to work harder to raise power generating efficiency of (conventional) solar cells and modules . . . while working to slash costs for the next-generation photovoltaic products,” Suda said. Boosting efficiency means increasing energy output per solar cell, which will result in lowering the cost of generating power.
Currently in Japan, electricity generated by photovoltaic systems is two to three times more expensive than conventional energy. Reducing costs is especially important in the domestic market, following the end last March of a government subsidy program for residential solar power systems.
A solar power system for a single-family house costs about 2 million yen, while it usually takes 15 to 20 years to recoup the initial investment, according to Sharp. Sharp’s Tomita said the market for residential solar power equipment in Japan, which was once the largest market in terms of installation of photovoltaic systems, is now close to saturation.
In contrast, photovoltaic systems enjoy strong demand in Europe thanks to the support of European governments. For example, Germany, Italy and Spain require power companies to buy electricity produced by solar power at a fixed price. But at the same time, he said, continued efforts to develop cheaper products are inevitable for survival amid the intensifying competition. “We cannot rely on incentives forever. We have to slash costs,” Tomita said.