In accordance with the "Basic Guidelines for Reconstruction in Response to the
Great East Japan Earthquake" (determined on July 29, 2011) and the "Basic Policy
for Recovery and Reconstruction of Fukushima" (passed on July 13, 2012), the
FUTURE-PV (Fukushima Top-Level United Center for Renewable Energy
Research-Photo Voltaic Innovation) Research Facility has been established in
Fukushima Prefecture as a 5-year project from 2012 to 2016. The research at this
facility will be supervised by Professor Makoto Konagai of the Department of Physical Electronics, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology
Due to collaborative effort of the Reconstruction Agency, the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Ministry of Economy, Trade
and Industry (METI), and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), FUTURE-PV
is now the world's most advanced R&D facility for renewable energy.
Research aimed at developing super-efficient, innovative solar cells is being conducted.
SAMCO has developed solutions for research and development of solar cells since the
its establishment, and possesses a distinct delivery record of plasma CVD
systems. Additionally, SAMCO's multi-chamber and cluster-type systems have been
highly evaluated. The current project at FUTURE-PV centers on the
realization of silicon solar cells that have more than 30% energy conversion
efficiency. In light of this project, SAMCO has received an order for the
PD-2203L cluster-type PECVD system for the deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers
which are used in hetero-junction type crystal silicon solar cells. The SAMCO PD-2203L
cluster system is being housed temporarily at the Tokyo Institute of Technology until the
preparation of the FUTURE-PV R&D facility in Fukushima is complete.