Technology
Prices of solar
cells have been falling very fast because Chinese producers increased the
production capacity drastically, but spherical solar cells are not affected by
this trend. Innovative Network Corporations of Japan and Hitachi High-Technologies will establish a new company to develop and produce spherical
solar cells next month in alliance with Kyosemi, a Kyoto-based venture company.
Kyosemi’s spherical solar cell is 1.2 mm in diameter, and it can generate
electricity with sunlight coming from every angle. Kyosemi started to ship its
spherical solar cells in 2005, but sales stagnated due to a lack of mass
production technology. In fact, the sales in 2011 were 32 million yen.
The new company, in
which Innovative Network invested 500 million yen and Hitachi High-Tech
invested 100 million yen, will be staffed with Kyosemi’s development team and
Hitachi High-Tech’s engineers. It will be named Sphelar Power. It will build
test facilities for mass production technology in the initial year. It wishes
to cultivate new applications of sphere cells, such as incorporating sphere
solar cells in window glass and interior goods.
Window glass that generates electricity using sphere solar cells (Sphelar)
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