News

Hitachi Ltd. and the Chinese city of Chongqing have agreed to cooperate on a broad range of environment-related themes, the Japanese conglomerate said Monday. The partnership covers model project development, technical exchanges and collaboration with local firms in such fields as environmentally conscious “smart communities,” smart electrical grids, solar and wind power, railway systems, and …

Green Power Investment Corp. has decided to go forward with plans to invest a total of 18.4 billion yen to build wind farms in Shimane and Ehime prefectures with a combined generation capacity of 68 megawatts. The company drew up the plans in the 2007-08 period, only to shelve the projects when the Japanese government …

Landis+Gyr AG, a Swiss maker of smart meters, will work more closely with parent Toshiba Corp. so the Japanese group can supply smart-grid-related products and services as a single package, handling everything from smart meters to regional power management systems, President Andreas Umbach said in an interview with The Nikkei. Toshiba acquired the Swiss firm …

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today released its Next Generation Fuel Cell Stack (2011 Model) for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV). The latest technology development is part of the company’s continuing efforts towards the realization of a Zero Emission society. Through improvements to the MEA (Membrane Electrode Assembly) and the separator flow path, which make up …

UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a leading solar product safety testing and certification organization, said focusing on photovoltaic product reliability and durability would be the key to further develop Asia-Pacific’s booming green energy industry. UL offered proactive advice on industry technologies and trade development at the APEC Workshop on Ensuring Photovoltaic (PV) Reliability and Durability, held at …

Himalayas may be one of the most potential regions to provide solar power in future, according to a new research by Japanese scientists quoted by media reports Thursday. Deserts are usually regarded as the hotbeds for capturing solar power, but some of the loftiest and coldest regions can receive more energy from the sun than …

NTT Facilities Inc. plans to begin a new service offering to monitor and maintain so-called mega solar plants. This service, slated to start as early as next spring, will be the first of its kind in Japan. It is meant to stave off the deterioration in performance that can reduce power output by about 15% …

Siemens AG has started to take orders for wind turbines in Japan, focusing on large 3,000kw models, after effectively suspending marketing activities in 2004. The German firm is marketing wind turbines that do not have gearboxes used to increase their turning speed. These turbines break down less often than conventional ones, which translates to lower …

Yamada Denki Co. seeks to ramp up sales of solar power generation systems by teaming up with Sharp Corp. and six other major manufacturers to offer one-stop training for partner installers. The leading volume electronics retailer will also join forces with Toshiba Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Canadian Solar Japan KK, Suntech Power Japan Corp., Hyundai …

Lintec Corp.’s group operating profit is expected to drop 20% on the year to around 9 billion yen for the first fiscal half ended Sept. 30, weighed down by sluggish sales of its mainstay solar cell backsheet. Sales appear to have edged down to some 106 billion yen. Solar cell backsheet, a highly profitable product, …