NEWS&TOPICS

EneCoat Technologies Co., Ltd (Head Office: Kumiyama-cho, Kuze-gun, Kyoto; President: Naoya Kato) has announced today a collaboration with Macnica, Inc. (Headquarters: Kohoku-ku, Yokohama; President: Kazumasa Hara), a total service and solution provider in semiconductors, networking, cyber security, and AI/IoT, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced today that they have started verification operation of IoT CO2 sensor terminals equipped with perovskite solar cells (PSCs), which are considered a major next-generation solar cell technology, inside Tokyo Metropolitan Government facilities.

PSCs have excellent power generation performance both indoors and outdoors, and because they are thin, light, and bendable, they have a much wider range of applications compared to conventional solar cells, and can provide an independent power source anywhere as long as there is a light source, from small devices around us to in-car power sources, wall mounting, and space applications.

Enecoat has developed PSCs optimized for IoT terminals in terms of power generation capacity and shape, and has been conducting verification operation of air quality sensors employing PSCs made by Enecoat in collaboration with Macnica since last year　and to further materialize the efforts, the agreement for the verification operation was signed by Macnica, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and EneCoat. By having the Tokyo Metropolitan Government provide offices within the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building as an environment for air quality monitoring operation, Macnica, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and EneCoat will be able to further advance the study and verification of the mass production of IoT sensors equipped with PSCs.

■Roles in the Demonstration Experiment

Macnica Corporation:
Provision of sensors and systems with perovskite solar cells, installation, measurement, dissemination of the project, etc.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government:
Provision of Tokyo Metropolitan Government facilities for the verification experiment, overall coordination of the project, dissemination of the project, etc.

EneCoat Technologies Inc:
Provision of perovskite solar cells, verification of power generation performance, dissemination of the project, etc.

EneCoat is a Kyoto University startup established in 2018 to commercialize the research results of Atsushi Wakamiya’s laboratory at the Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, and has positioned as a corporate mission to contribute to (1) the promotion of IoT by devices using highly efficient solar cells for low illumination and (2) the realization of a carbon neutral society by lightweight thin film solar cells for high illumination.
Taking the opportunity of the development of the IoT CO2 sensor, EneCoat will expand its lineup of high-performance PSCs for sensors and wearable devices, aiming to start production by the end of 2024.