The changing face of solar power

Manabu Takeuchi

Japan Solartech (Bangladesh) Ltd aims to bring in energy-efficient home appliances run by solar power for the local market at reasonable prices as it will help the county mitigate electricity crisis.
The company has already introduced DC (direct current) appliances, which are low powered, such as televisions, refrigerators, monitors, bulbs, fans and solar lanterns for the local market. Only 60 watts are needed to run an 18.5 inch LCD (liquid-crystal display) television and it has introduced a number of LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs that consume electricity from 1 watt to 12 watts.
“We are working to bring energy efficient products from Japan, as saving energy is important, especially for energy starved Bangladesh,” said Manabu Takeuchi, adviser to Japan Solartech.
He said, “Saving energy means generating energy.”
Japan Solartech, established in January last year, is a joint venture between UING Corporation, a unit of Japan's U-TEC Group, and Trade Service International, a trading company and distributor of TOTAL Lubricants in Bangladesh.
The company has already set up a factory in Chittagong to make solar batteries. It would start manufacturing solar batteries in March, eyeing the local market and exports, said Takeuchi.
He said the factory will make around 10,000 solar gel batteries a month. The batteries will be produced by using the advanced nonmaterial silica gel, which will give the batteries a longer life and help run smoothly at high and low temperatures.
“We will sell the products not only in Bangladesh, but also in other places, and gradually move to the developed countries,” Takeuchi told The Daily Star in an interview recently.
Takeuchi, who has an MSc degree in applied physics from Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, recently came to Dhaka to attend an international conference on the developments in renewable energy technology.
Currently, the company is conducting a market research to launch the newly developed SHS-TV (solar home system TV) in Bangladesh. The TV has a one-box control unit, which eliminates the burden of complex connections as seen in conventional systems.
The new system will require only three components -- solar panel, control box and a battery to operate the system. The one-box control unit would be easy to operate and have higher charging capacity.
Takeuchi, who is the director for new technology development group of U-TEC, said they are working on thin-film solar and organic solar cells to manufacture the next generation solar products.
He said the organic solar cells can be installed at any place and on any structure as it is considerably light and flexible. It is also less expensive as the system requires low initial installation costs, which is almost a fifth of the conventional system.
Takeuchi, a former professor at the electrical and electronic engineering department at Ibaraki University in Japan, said traditional silicon-based solar panels currently dominate the market with a 90 percent share.
Even after more than 50 years of research and development, the silicon-based panels fail to achieve commercial success due to the exorbitant costs of silicon and difficulties associated with manufacturing the panels, he added.
“We are working to develop the thin-film solar cells through a coating process to address the constraints in silicon-based solar panels,” said Takeuchi.
On the prospect of renewable energy, he said Bangladesh has immense prospects in green technology, as around half the population is still off-grid.
Around 80 million people, mostly living in rural areas, have no access to the national power grid. So, solar power systems could be a sustainable solution, he added.
“The sunshine-hour is also favourable in the country to run solar panels as it has longer periods of sunshine compared to Japan. The average sunshine is 5.5 hours in this country, while it is 3.5 hours in Japan.”
He said Japan Solartech will be a hub for manufacturing solar energy products and energy-efficient home appliances in this region.
The company recently installed its first hybrid (5KW) solar power system at the Gulshan branch office of EXIM Bank.
Established in 1942, U-TEC is now producing more than eight million solar modules, equivalent to around 200 MW, every year in its factories in Japan and China with an annual turnover of $ 6.52 billion.

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