PV EXPO 2012 - 5th Int'l Photovoltaic Power Generation Expo, the biggest PV exhibition in Japan, is where PV companies from Japan as well as around the world convene. At the expo, the exhibits not only cater to the preferences of the Japanese market, but also present the crucial R&D breakthroughs and the future trends, thanks to the variety of participating companies. In addition, there are pavilions specifically for PV system and solar cell, which provides the attendees with a comprehensive view covering up, mid and downstream of the solar industry. Further, the increasing demand for renewable energy following the earthquake contributes to the high popularity of this year’s expo.
Major makers such as Panasonic, Sharp, Mitsubishi also showcase their solar solutions which are designed for day-to-day use. The solutions, equipped with touch controls, can be integrated with households, which shows that the solar applications now are for not only power plants and industrial factories but also regular users.
Panasonic demonstrates its solution with diagrams in a household setting to make the control comprehensible for non-professionals. The company’s new HIT solar panel is claimed to have decent conversion efficiency.
Mitsubishi also showcased several household solar products and shared a number of installation cases.
Sharp’s new product, named Blacksolar, features high conversion efficiency. The company uses a large-size touch screen to demonstrate, which attracts quite a few attendees’ attention.