The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology plans to set up a research base in Fukushima Prefecture for promoting the research and development of next-generation solar cells and batteries. The ministry will include an 11 billion yen budget for Tohoku recovery in the budget request for the next fiscal year and use part of the budget for the research base. Research facilities will be erected in universities and other institutions in Fukushima Prefecture to accommodate young researchers who will conduct basic studies on solar cells and batteries. The ministry intends to accelerate basic research on quantum dot solar cells, whose theoretical conversion efficiency is said to be 75%, nanowire solar cells and metal-air batteries.
The nanowire solar cells are solar cells using nanocrystalline silicon in billionths of a meter, which are said to be capable of achieving very high conversion efficiencies.
The metal-air batteries utilize oxygen in the air. Commercialization of this technology will mean the possibility of significantly increasing charging capacity per unit weight compared with typical lithium ion batteries.
