Sekisui-led consortium testing film-type perovskite solar for agrivolatics

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">A Japanese consortium is piloting agrivoltaics using film-type perovskite solar cells over rice paddies to study energy generation alongside crop production. The three-year project will assess impacts on rice yield, land use, and emissions while testing the technology’s performance and commercial viability.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A consortium of Japanese partners are working on a pilot project that has installed an agrivoltaic installation made of film-type perovskite solar cells over rice paddy fields.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The five collaborators, <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/05/26/sekisui-tno-exploring-perovskite-solar-pv-collaboration/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Sekisui Solar Film</a>, Terra Inc, Himawari Green Energy, Chiba University and Chiba Bank, entered a memorandum of understanding to deploy the installation at the university’s Kashiwa-no-ha campus, located around half an hour north of the capital, Tokyo, in </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/region/japan/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Japan</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">’s Chiba prefecture.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Under the terms of the agreement, Sekisui Solar Film provides the film-type perovskite solar cells, Terra is responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the installation and Himawari Green Energy will conduct a business feasibility assessment of an agricultural management model that utilizes perovskite solar cells. Chiba University provides the fields and will be assessing the installation’s impact on agricultural work and crops, while Chiba Bank is providing financial support. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The project, set to last three years, will verify the performance of the lens-type perovskite modules in the rice paddy fields, as well as the installation's impact on the agricultural land, the yield and quality of rice crops and impact on methane emissions. Chiba University will also purchase the electricity generated by the installation.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This latest collaboration follows work between Terra and Sekisui Chemical Co, parent company of Sekisui Solar Film, which have been working on verification tests on lens-type modules using film-type perovskite solar cells in Sōsa City since August 2024.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last May, Sekisui Solar Film announced work </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/05/26/sekisui-tno-exploring-perovskite-solar-pv-collaboration/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">collaborating</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">flexible perovskite solar module technologies with the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (NTO). The company is also working on a </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2024/12/27/sekisui-chemical-invests-in-100-mw-perovskite-solar-production-line/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">100 MW perovskite solar production line</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in Japan, targeted for operations in 2027.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Earlier this month, the Japanese government began to develop </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/03/12/japan-establishes-national-benchmarks-for-agrivoltaics-as-sites-expand/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">new standards for agrivoltaics</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> which will require developers to submit cultivation plans, financial projections, equipment designs and evidence that crops can grow beneath panels. It follows a </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/01/21/japans-solar-industry-targets-vertical-bifacial-pv-with-new-guide/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">voluntary reference guide</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> from the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association that features land-sharing approaches to agricultural installations. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Previous research has pointed towards agrivoltaics on rice paddies, including a recently-concluded </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/08/07/agrivoltaics-on-rice-fields-not-a-lost-cause/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">field trial</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, involving trade‑offs between crop yields and energy output.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last month, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Japanese petroleum company Idemitsu Kosan announced its </span><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/02/19/idemitsu-switches-on-2-mw-of-solar-above-rice-paddy/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">2 MW agricultural solar power plant</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, installed 3.8 meters above a rice paddy, is now operational. The project features a community-based model that returns a portion of the profits from power generation to the farmers.</span></p>