Japanese Inventor Of Calcium-titanium Solar Cells Shows Japan Needs To Learn From China

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, "calcium-titanium ore" cells, invented by Japanese researchers and called the "best candidate" for the next generation of solar cells, are expected to be commercially available in Japan. European and Chinese companies have started earlier, but Japanese companies such as Sekisui Chemical Industry and Toshiba also plan to start mass production from 2025. The use of Japanese materials technology, by improving the durability and frequency conversion of solar cells once regarded as the shortcomings of the issue, to only half the cost of traditional batteries in the market to complete the comeback.

The report said that in 2009, Kirin Yokohama University Distinguished Professor Riku Miyasaka and others invented calcium-titanium ore type solar cells. The cells developed by Professor Riku Miyasaka are cheap to manufacture, light in weight and can be bent. This allows them to be used in locations that were previously difficult to install, such as on the facades of buildings and the roofs of electric vehicles.

Some Japanese companies are already planning to mass-produce calcium-titanium ore solar cells, so whether they can compete with European and Chinese companies who are one step ahead, the reporter interviewed the inventor of the battery, Professor Miyasaka.

According to Professor Miyasaka, Japanese companies have strong technical strength. In particular, they excel in sealing technology and electrode embedding technology to prevent material moisture.

Professor Miyasaka also says that Chinese and European companies are already one step ahead in terms of mass production. There are many companies that come to Professor Miyasakazu to discuss cooperation, but the Japanese companies are mostly ordinary employees with no decision-making power, whereas the overseas companies come with management, so the difference in the speed of decision-making is obvious.

Professor Miyasaka believes that there is no need for emerging companies to start developing technology from scratch. They can first dismantle and analyse the products of overseas companies and imitate the mass production technology of others, while using Japanese basic science to improve product quality and cut costs. Where once China studied Japanese technology, this time Japan must resolve to learn from China.