EneCoat Technologies and Toyota Motor Corporation have announced that they will work together to develop and commercialize automotive perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with the common goal of "contributing to the realization of carbon neutrality". The high efficiency, thin form factor and light weight make PSCs suitable for the automotive industry.
EneCoat is a start-up company established in 2018 based on research results from Atsushi Wakamiya's laboratory at the Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University. It has developed material and deposition technologies for high-efficiency perovskite solar cells, and has successfully developed film-type perovskite solar cells with high output (module conversion efficiency of 19.4% as of April 2023). It is also participating in the Green Innovation Fund Project, one of the government's industrial policies aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050.
As part of various efforts to realize the "Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050," Toyota is aiming for self-sufficiency in carbon-free electricity from the perspective of energy conservation and energy diversification, and is promoting the practical application of in-vehicle solar power generation systems using crystalline silicon cells to further improve power generation efficiency and lower costs.
The two companies are aiming to further improve power generation efficiency and lower costs. They will continue to promote the development of practical applications by integrating EneCoat's elemental technologies for perovskite solar cells and Toyota's in-vehicle technologies for solar panels, with the aim
of promoting self-sufficiency in renewable energy and contributing to the achievement of carbon neutrality
