Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Panasonic Corporation has announced plans to demonstrate a 100% renewable energy generator called RE100 which it hopes will one day supply electricity to companies.
The demonstration will use a combination of pure hydrogen fuel cell generators and photovoltaic generators. Panasonic claims that this is the “world’s first attempt to create an ‘RE100’ factory through full scale use of hydrogen.”
According to the firm, a growing number of companies have taken interest in the RE100 initiative (and, in fact, 309 companies are said to be involved) due to their awareness that environmental, social, and governance perspectives have become essential.
Until now, there have been two methods of procuring renewable energy: in-house power generation and external procurement. The company states that the most common in-house generation method uses a simple photovoltaic system that has a few drawbacks, including the need for a large installation space and dependence upon the weather.
In response to these challenges, Panasonic aims to offer a solution that combines pure hydrogen fuel cell and photovoltaic generators, together with lithium storage batteries, which can assist in power management during the days when the factory is not in operation.
This demonstration will take place at Panasonic’s Kusatsu site in Shiga Prefecture. The power generated by this system will supply all the manufacturing departments of the facility. The company has also stated that it will “develop and verify technologies related to the optimal power supply and demand management based on integrated control of power generations and storage battery system.”
After the demonstration period, Panasonic aims to commercialize its RE100 solution.