No. 57: Build charging infrastructure in an apartment complex for electric vehicles (August 4, 2010)

Nissan Motor and Daikyo that is one of Japan’s leading housing companies will collaborate to build charging infrastructure for electric vehicle (EV). The two companies start the substantiative experiment in an apartment complex that Daikyo manages in Yokohama to explore the best way to install and operate charging equipment. They will work out the best billing and settlement method for charging with the apartment management company. Data and information collected by the experiments will be made public. The substantiative experiment is scheduled between January and March, 2011. Nissan will offer its Leaf for the experiment. While Nissan emphasizes the importance of building an environment for charging EVs in apartment complexes, Daiko wishes to increase the asset value and customer satisfaction of apartment complexes. The move to spread EVs is growing widespread by every industry concerned in Japan.

No. 56: Cool down the building with the help of highly absorbent ceramics (August 2, 2010)

INAX, one of Japan’s leading sanitary ware and household equipment, will start the substantiative experiment to hold down the temperature rise using highly absorbent ceramics. The company will put ceramics on the rooftop of a building to control the temperature rise in alliance with Mori Building in Tokyo. It will pave conical water-retentive ceramics, each of which is 1 cm in height and 3-4 cm in diameter, on the rooftop to mitigate the heat island phenomenon. The water-retentive ceramic can absorb 60% of rainwater in volume percentage and discharge the moisture in about 10 days. The water cools down the temperature of the surrounding area while it evaporates, and thereby cools down the temperature of the rooftop. Installation cost is estimated at 20,000-40,000 yen per square meter. The technology is scheduled to be put into practical use in 2011. INAX plans to sell this technology to local governments and cites in foreign countries as a measure for the heat-island phenomenon.

No. 55: Local medium-sized companies collaborate to develop electric vehicles (July 31, 2010)

In Japan, the move that local medium-sized companies work together to develop electric vehicles (EVs) is spreading. This is because medium-sized companies that once enjoyed brisk business as subcontractors of big companies have been losing business volume because of the big companies’ trend to transfer their manufacturing plants in Southeast Asian countries. A local company in Osaka Prefecture will build a trial three-seat three-wheeled EV by March 2011 for mass production scheduled for 2012. It will specialize in fabrication using imported chassis and battery. The planned EV is designed for short distant shopping only and not designed for driving on an express highway. It runs at the maximum speed of 35 km/h and for 70 km per about six-hour charge. The price is scheduled at between 1 and 1.5 million yen. A total of 23 medium-sized companies participate in the project. The competition in the EV development is growing harder, and big companies including Toyota are energetically developing EVs. It is, therefore, advisable for the group of medium-sized companies to focus on the zippy model positioned between car and bicycle because it is hardly possible to compete with big companies in EVs that replace the gasoline-powered vehicle. In addition, a facilitator from the third party, such as government agency and local municipality, is indispensable because each participant has its own interest. The price range should be between 1 and 1.5 million yen. It is advisable not to touch on the EV that costs more than 1.5 million yen, leaving the domain of such expensive EVs to big companies.

No. 54: Photovoltaic generation spreads among restaurants and convenience stores (July 30, 2010)

A nationwide coffee shop chain decided to install a photovoltaic generation system in its new shop to supply 5% of its power demand by photovoltaic generation and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The investment is three million yen, and it is scheduled to be recouped within 10 years. A nationwide restaurant chain introduced solar water heaters to reduce utility cost. Because restaurant chains are not as financially strong as nationwide major retail chains, they are behind in energy saving measures. However, it has become easier for restaurant chains to introduce photovoltaic generation, because the policy to ask electric power companies to purchase power at two times as high as in the past was enacted last fall and because an increasing number of municipalities provide a subsidy to companies that install a photovoltaic generation system. Convenience store chains are very energetic to install a photovoltaic generation system. Family Mart will increase the number of stores with the system from the present 10 stores to 300 stores by 2012, and Seven-Eleven plans to double the number of stores with the system to 200 by next spring. The Japanese government plans to increase photovoltaic generation by 20 times to 28 million kW toward 2020. Backed up by the inspiring government policy, the move to introduce photovoltaic generation is expected to intensify among restaurant and retail chains in Japan.

Office best suitable for biological clock

Takenaka Corp., one of Japan’s leading construction companies, has developed an office that minimizes the error of the biological clock that controls the cycle of brain activation. The office controls Takenaka’s self-developed intensity of illumination and room temperature, sets the biological clock of office workers, and helps them have a deep sleep. The company plans to commercialize this office in three years as the technology to improve the productivity of office workers liable to have an irregular working pattern. Focusing attention on the circadian rhythm, it developed the technology to select the intensity of illumination and control the operation of air-conditioning in accordance with the circadian rhythm.

Takenaka adopted two kinds of LEDs of orange and white. The office uses the two colors, but orange grows stronger toward the evening. It is 400 lx in the day time and less than 300 lx after the evening. The illumination is covered by film after the evening to integrate it with the ceiling, and the film makes the whole ceiling brighter by diffusing the light coming out through the film. The system sets the temperature of the air-conditioning at 3 degrees centigrade higher than the room temperature to increase the deep body temperature, thereby enlarges the vibration amplitude subject to the circadian rhythm. This technology helps office workers have a good sleep and improve their rhythm of sleep and waking state.

Hitachi Zosen goes into the large-scale fuel cell business.

Hitachi Zosen announced that it would go into the large-scale fuel cell business toward 2014 in alliance with Wartsila of Finland. The large-scale fuel cell to be built by the two companies will have power generation efficiency of 50-70% that is about two times as high as that of the existing model and sold to manufacturing plants and buildings. The company is scheduled to launch the testing machine of the state-of-the-art fuel cell called solid-oxide fuel cell within the year. It changed the substance used in generation part from polymer molecule to solid ceramic, and it is expected to increase the power generation efficiency to 50-70% and output of power generation by 10 times. The two companies will collaborate in product development and substantiative experiments. Fuel cells do not emit carbon dioxide, but the high generation cost should be solved to spread fuel cells. According to a survey, the current domestic solid-oxide fuel cell market is about 800 million yen, but it will be 250 billion yen in 2025.

Carbon fiber material for auto body

Tokyo University successfully developed a carbon fiber material for auto body jointly with Toray, Toyobo, and Mitsubishi Rayon. The newly-developed material has 10 times as much strength as iron and weighs one fourth of iron. It can be moulded in a short time, and it allows for deformation and agglutination. It can be applied to various part of a car including auto body and engine parts. The university will collaborate with Toyota, Nissan, and Honda to establish the mass production technology of this material. To develop this material, the university used carbon fiber and thermoplastic resin to solidify it and improved the surface of carbon fiber to make it become easily attached to resin. It took this new material only two minutes to be processed after it is moulded in a mold. If the processing is automated, it is supposedly possible to process this material in one minute that is the time used to produce a metal part of mass-produced cars. It will offer a wide range of applications including door frame and engine parts. In addition, it can be applied to other industries than the auto industry because you can purchase a block of this material and process it to build favorable shapes.