Japanese chemical companies focus on renewables

Spotlight on solar

23 October 2009 16:45  [Source: ICB]

Japan's chemical industry is sharpening its focus on renewable energy and forging ahead in bioplastics

Guest columnist
Isao Hiroki/The Chemical Daily

THE COLLAPSE of sales in the automotive and electrical/electronics sectors following the global financial crisis that started in the third quarter of 2008 has triggered an

Chris Eyles

urgent move towards the environmental and renewable energy sectors among Japan's chemical and components producers.

A particular target has been the solar field, where Japanese companies believe they have a global competitive edge from materials production to manufacture of production equipment.

Motivated by the sudden spotlight put on its lack of natural resources in the wake of the global oil shocks of the 1970s, Japan has become the world leader in crystalline silicon-based solar cells.

The challenge for Japan is to maintain this strength and build on its competitive edge. Output of solar cells in Europe has overtaken that of Japan in recent years as environmentally motivated measures such as the Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) System, obliging utilities companies to purchase renewable energy at above-market rates, has encouraged widespread adoption.

The Japanese solar cell industry also has the support of government subsidies. In addition, the industry claims a competitive edge in its ability to supply its requirements from raw materials to finished equipment.

The focus of industry development has been on high, energy-efficient, crystalline-based solar cells in Japan, where houses are small and the installation area for solar cell equipment is limited.

Japanese chemical and materials firms including Asahi Glass, Tokuyama Corp and Taiyo Nippon Sanso are supplying materials to the leading Japanese makers of solar cell equipment, including Sharp, Kyocera and Sanyo Electric.

An emerging issue for crystalline-based solar cells is competition among the suppliers of raw material polycrystalline silicon(or polysilicon).

In August, Japan's largest supplier, Tokuyama, announced a yen (Y) 65bn ($707m) project to build a 6,000 tonne/year plant to manufacture polysilicon for solar cell use in Sarawak, Malaysia. The move aims to maintain its position amid aggressive expansion plans by the two global leaders in the sector, Hemlock Semiconductor, of the US and WACKER, of Germany.

Tokuyama also plans to increase its Japanese production capacity, and ultimately expects to develop its Sarawak site into a silicon complex of comparable size. It plans to have total capacity of 14,200 tonnes/year once the new site comes on stream in 2014.

Hemlock is aiming to establish total polysilicon capacity of 36,000 tonnes/year in 2010, while WACKER expects to have a total output of 35,500 tonnes/year by 2012, including a new plant under construction in Germany. In Tennessee, US, Hemlock has a plant under construction, while WACKER has bought land for a potential site.

THIN-FILM TECH ADVANCES
Thin-film solar cells are also experiencing strong growth in the US, Europe and developing countries and competition among material suppliers is intensifying.

Tedlar polyvinyl fluoride film, made by US-based DuPont, currently dominates the market, but both Toray Industries and Mitsui Chemicals are looking to make an entry.

SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE
Toray believes it can offer superior performance-to-price with its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film product and is increasing output to target the sector. Mitsui Chemicals is developing a composite film consisting of functional polyolefin, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and high-barrier layers and aims to launch the product in 2010.

Another important raw material in the production of thin-film solar cells is monosilane gas. Taiyo Nippon Sanso, Japan's largest gases company, announced an agreement in May with a Japanese affiliate of German chemical giant Evonik Industries to offtake and market gas from a 1,000 tonne/year plant to be built by Evonik in Japan. Output will be marketed by Taiyo Nippon, but the major consumer is expected to be Sharp, for its Sakai facility.

Taiyo Nippon has a contract to purchase monosilane gas from Norwegian photovoltaics group Renewable Energy Corp, giving it a stable supply base for the product.

Another high-growth segment is copper indium gallium deselenide (CIGS) solar cells, and Japanese players are again expanding capacity to keep pace with demand.

Energy venture Showa Shell Sekiyu announced in September a Y100bn investment to set up a 900 megawatt (MW) CIGS photovotaic materials plant in Miyazaki Prefecture. It is expected on stream in 2011.

Showa Shell plans to earn 50% of its targeted Y100bn of ordinary profits in 2014 from its solar cell business, and to win over 10% global market share. To meet Showa Shell's anticipated demand for selenium, Taiyo Nippon is studying the potential for an increase in output from its US subsidiary.

Competition for raw material aside, there is a great deal of cooperation taking place.

Tokyo Ohka Kogyo, a leading maker of photoresists for semiconductors, is developing materials, process and production equipment for chemical-type solar cells jointly with technology giant IBM of the US.

Japan's Sumitomo Chemical has formed a joint venture, RSL Energy, with US technology development venture RoseStreet Labs to develop dye-sensitized solar cells and organic thin-film photovoltaics.

ADVANCES IN BIOPLASTICS

Yasuhiro Hosoi/The Chemical Daily

The use of bioplastics has expanded dramatically in recent years, following the start- up in 2002 of commercial-scale production of polylactic acid (PLA) in the US by the then-Cargill Dow Polymers, now named NatureWorks, and fully owned by US agribusiness giant Cargill. The investment removed a supply bottleneck for this bioplastic and thus a major obstacle to its more widespread use.

PLA was initially used in materials for packaging, civil engineering, agriculture, and compost bags, and later in durable items such as electric and electronics components and automotive parts.

Japan in particular has made important advances in developing materials for durable items, and Japanese material makers are now focusing on widening the scope of potential applications through the use of alloy, nano, and stereocomplex technology.

In the electrical and electronics sector, PLA combined with petroleum-based materials such as polycarbonate (PC) is already being used for the casings of notebook computers and cell phones and in components for photocopiers and multifunction copier-based items.

The biggest challenge in using bioplastics for these products is achieving satisfactory flame retardance and moldability. To overcome PLA's lack of flame retardance, it is alloyed with resins such as polysiloxane-copolycarbonate, while new additives are used to enhance its heat resistance.

This year, a bioplastic developed by Toray Industries was adopted in new multifunction color copiers/printers launched by Japanese electronics firm Canon. The product has a flammability rating of UL94 5V, a world first for a bioplastic used in multifunction products for office use.

Bioplastics use is also increasing in automotive parts, including hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius (pictured above). Present applications are limited to parts such as floor mats, but research and development is focusing on exterior components where higher performance is required.

The growth of PLA has also encouraged the emergence of other bioplastics. Mitsubishi Chemical has developed a new plant-based bio-polycarbonate, modeled on its existing polybutylene succinate material.

The new product is a transparent, durable, heat-resistant engineering plastic with excellent optical properties. It is expected to be used in optical applications such as flat-panel displays, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

A further trigger for research efforts is the concern that growing use of bioplastics may push up food prices. The sensitivity of the perceived conflict between food and industrial products has encouraged producers such as NatureWorks to study the use of non-edible raw materials such as cellulose.

In Japan, Mitsui Chemicals has succeeded in developing a plant-derived polyurethane by replacing the polyol constituent with castor oil derived from the nonedible castor bean.

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