INSTITUTION PROFILE / PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS
NEDO
The agency that pays for Japan's perovskite mass-production trials
NEDO is a national research and development agency overseen by Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. It does not make solar cells. For perovskite solar cells, its main job is to run calls for proposals, select companies and fund their development and demonstration work under the Green Innovation Fund's "Development of Next-Generation Solar Cells" project, which is capped at ¥105.1 billion. That is why NEDO's name keeps appearing in the development plans of Sekisui Chemical, Panasonic, Kaneka, Aisin and others. This profile looks at one question only: how much influence NEDO actually has over perovskite solar cells.
- NEDO in 30 seconds
- What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
- What it does for perovskite solar cells
- How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
- The companies and organisations involved
- Outlook
- Glossary, references and claim-to-source audit
1. NEDO in 30 seconds
NEDO is the body that carries out the support, not the one that designs it. The Green Innovation Fund is a fund that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) set up at NEDO; within it, NEDO runs the calls, selects themes and pays out grants Sourced. The project's R&D and social implementation plan is published on METI's website, and it is also METI that sets the deployment target (about 20 GW by 2040). NEDO still matters a great deal, because a project that started in 2021 with a total of ¥49.8 billion has grown to a cap of ¥105.1 billion, and much of the mass-production demonstration by Japan's perovskite makers is taking place within it.
2. What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
Unlike the companies in this series, none of the institutions that appear in perovskite solar cell coverage makes solar cells. What separates them is the route by which they influence the industry, and that gives four types.
3. What it does for perovskite solar cells
The centrepiece is the Green Innovation Fund's "Development of Next-Generation Solar Cells" project. Its targets are a generation cost of ¥14/kWh or less for single-junction cells, and ¥12/kWh or less for residential use with conversion efficiency of 30% or more for tandem cells Sourced. Selections fall into four R&D areas.
| R&D area | Selected / period | NEDO support at selection | Implementers |
|---|---|---|---|
| (1) Foundational technology | December 2021 FY2021 to FY2025 | About ¥3.9 billion (commissioned research) | AIST, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (component technologies that combine efficiency with durability, and analysis and evaluation techniques) |
| (2) Commercialisation | December 2021 FY2021 to FY2025, now ended | About ¥15.4 billion | Sekisui Chemical, Toshiba, EneCoat Technologies, Aisin and Kaneka (working with universities). Technology for making modules at practical size (900 cm² or more) |
| (3) Single-junction mass-production demonstration | September 2024 FY2024 to FY2028 | About ¥12.5 billion | Sekisui Chemical and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (film-type) |
| (3) Additional selection | September 2025 FY2025 to FY2029 | About ¥24.6 billion (three projects combined) | Ricoh (inkjet printing), Panasonic Holdings (glass-type), EneCoat Technologies |
| (3) Additional selection | August 2026 FY2026 to FY2030 | About ¥11.3 billion | Aisin (thin-glass type). Demonstrations at public facilities and infrastructure sites, and overseas |
| (4) Tandem mass-production demonstration | February 2026 FY2025 to FY2030 | About ¥9.4 billion (two projects combined) | Choshu Industry (perovskite-silicon), Kaneka |
The support figures are the planned amounts at selection given in NEDO's project summaries (Attachment 2 to each news release), and include incentive payments. They may change as contracts and other procedures are completed. Excluding incentive payments, the August 2026 selection under (3) comes to about ¥9.8 billion.
Outside the fund, NEDO's Technology Development Project for Expanding Photovoltaic Deployment (FY2025 to FY2029; FY2025 budget ¥3.2 billion) covers evaluation and verification of recycling systems for perovskite solar cells, techniques for measuring output and durability of solar cells whose standardisation has not yet caught up, development of all-perovskite multi-junction cells, and a survey of standardisation trends Sourced. Under this project, NEDO published "Design and Installation Guidelines for Photovoltaic Systems Using Flexible Solar Cells" (mainly for building-mounted systems) on 18 March 2026. They were compiled by AIST, the structural-strength evaluation body Kozo Tairyoku Hyoka Kiko, and the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association.
What gets selected is a theme led by a company that makes cells or modules. Makers of encapsulants, substrates, glass and other materials usually take part as partners or subcontractors. The public-private council's documents list AGC as a partner in Panasonic Holdings' glass-type theme, and Toyoda Gosei and YKK AP as subcontractors to EneCoat Technologies Sourced. By cell type, there are film-type themes (Sekisui Chemical, EneCoat Technologies, Ricoh), glass-type themes (Panasonic Holdings, Aisin) and tandem themes (Kaneka, Choshu Industry): a distinctive feature of NEDO's support is that all three forms have a slot for demonstration. Which lead company's theme a materials supplier joins shapes its chances of having its material adopted.
4. How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
| Aspect | What NEDO has | What it does not have |
|---|---|---|
| Powers | The power, within the fund, to run calls, select themes, pay grants and check progress. It publishes awardees' business strategy visions on the fund website, and it drafts and publishes installation guidelines | Setting deployment targets and plans (METI), subsidising equipment for mass-production plants (METI's GX Supply Chain Support Program), subsidising buyers (Ministry of the Environment), deciding international standards (IEC) |
| Geography | Programmes funded from the Japanese budget, with Japanese companies and research bodies as awardees. Themes selected from September 2025 onwards carry out field demonstrations that include overseas sites | Grants to foreign companies, or any direct authority over other countries' systems or markets |
| Time horizon | The longest themes run to FY2030 | Power to require anyone to start mass production or sell a product |
| Scale | 1,640 staff; a budget of ¥505.2 billion plus ¥11.3668 trillion in funds (all fields). The perovskite project is capped at ¥105.1 billion, about 3.8% of the ¥2.7564 trillion Green Innovation Fund | Only the planned amounts at selection have been published, not the amounts actually granted to each theme |
"Project size" is the total cost of a project, including the company's own contribution; "support" is the amount NEDO plans to grant. The two tandem projects, for example, have a combined project size of about ¥12.8 billion and support of about ¥9.4 billion, with grant rates of two-thirds or one-half Sourced. The support figures in the table add up to about ¥77.1 billion, about ¥28 billion short of the ¥105.1 billion cap. How that difference will be used has not been published Our calculation Not yet confirmed.
5. The companies and organisations involved
Links to the company profiles in this series
| Company | Link to NEDO programmes (as stated in primary sources) | Link to this series |
|---|---|---|
| Sekisui Chemical | Lead company in (2) commercialisation; implementer in (3) mass-production demonstration (selected September 2024; the fund website lists Sekisui Solar Film as lead) | Company profile in preparation |
| Panasonic (Panasonic Holdings) | (3) "Mass-production technology development and field demonstration of glass-type perovskite solar cells" (selected September 2025) | Company profile in preparation |
| EneCoat Technologies | Lead company in (2) commercialisation; (3) mass-production demonstration (selected September 2025) | Company profile in preparation |
| Kaneka | (2) commercialisation; (4) tandem mass-production demonstration (selected February 2026) | Company profile in preparation |
| Aisin | Lead company in (2) commercialisation; (3) "Mass-production technology and field demonstration of lightweight thin-glass perovskite solar cells" (selected August 2026) | Company profile in preparation |
| Toshiba | Lead company in (2) commercialisation (film-type; ended in FY2025) | Company profile in preparation |
| Ricoh, Choshu Industry, TEPCO Holdings | Implementers in (3) or (4) | Not covered in this series |
6. Outlook
| What the evidence suggests | Primary information it rests on | Category |
|---|---|---|
| The focus of NEDO's support has shifted from component technologies to mass-production demonstration and tandem cells | Areas (1) and (2) ended in FY2025. The budget for (3) (NEDO support) rose from ¥37.8 billion in 2024 to ¥62.3 billion by August 2026, and (4) was created with a cap of ¥15.33 billion | Inference |
| Results from the evaluation and measurement work may reach overseas markets through proposals for international standards | The photovoltaic deployment technology project is developing measurement techniques for output and durability where standardisation has not caught up, and the public-private council's documents say a performance evaluation method developed on the Green Innovation Fund's shared platform has been proposed as a new international standard | Inference |
| A revised edition of the installation guidelines is expected to be published by FY2027 at the latest | NEDO news release (18 March 2026) | Not yet confirmed |
7. Glossary
- Green Innovation Fund
- A fund that METI set up at NEDO. It supports company projects over the long term, from R&D and demonstration through to deployment in society.
- Project size and support
- Project size is the total cost of a project, including the company's own share; support is the amount NEDO plans to grant.
- Single-junction and tandem
- A single-junction cell generates power with one perovskite layer. A tandem cell stacks layers that absorb different wavelengths to raise efficiency.
- Business strategy vision
- A document in which each Green Innovation Fund awardee sets out its business strategy and R&D plan as a commitment from top management.
8. References
- NEDO Organisational overview (in Japanese): name, headquarters, establishment, supervising minister, staff numbers, budget and the breakdown of fund budgets. Updated 15 April 2026. https://www.nedo.go.jp/introducing/kihon.html
- NEDO Green Innovation Fund website, "Development of Next-Generation Solar Cells" overview (in Japanese): the ¥105.1 billion budget cap, R&D areas, and targets for single-junction and tandem cells. https://green-innovation.nedo.go.jp/project/next-generation-solar-cells/
- NEDO Green Innovation Fund website, "Implementation structure and business strategy visions" for the same project (in Japanese): themes and implementers, themes that ended in FY2025, and an explanation of business strategy visions. https://green-innovation.nedo.go.jp/project/next-generation-solar-cells/scheme/
- NEDO Green Innovation Fund website, "Documents and related links" for the same project (in Japanese): the R&D and social implementation plan is published on METI's website; selection history. https://green-innovation.nedo.go.jp/project/next-generation-solar-cells/resources/
- NEDO News release, "Development of next-generation solar cells begins under the Green Innovation Fund" (in Japanese, 28 December 2021): METI's creation of a ¥2 trillion fund, and a budget of ¥20 billion (part of a ¥49.8 billion total). https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101501.html
- NEDO Attachment 2 to the same release, project summary (in Japanese, December 2021): the commercialisation projects' project size of about ¥19.1 billion and support of about ¥15.4 billion, about ¥3.9 billion for foundational technology, and modules of 900 cm² or more. https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/100940818.pdf
- NEDO News release, "Next-Generation Solar Cell Demonstration Project newly launched under the Green Innovation Fund" (in Japanese, 20 September 2024): budget of ¥37.8 billion (NEDO support), FY2024 to FY2030. https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101779.html
- NEDO Attachment 2 to the same release, project summary (in Japanese, September 2024): Sekisui Chemical and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, theme size of about ¥18.3 billion and support of about ¥12.5 billion. https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/100982236.pdf
- NEDO News release, "Three new projects selected for the Next-Generation Solar Cell Demonstration Project" (in Japanese, 10 September 2025): field demonstrations including overseas sites. https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101885.html
- NEDO Attachment 2 to the same release, project summary (in Japanese, September 2025): Ricoh, Panasonic Holdings and EneCoat Technologies, project size of about ¥33.5 billion and support of about ¥24.6 billion. https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/800032097.pdf
- NEDO News release, "Next-Generation Tandem Solar Cell Mass-Production Technology Demonstration Project launched" (in Japanese, 6 February 2026): budget of up to ¥15.33 billion, FY2025 to FY2030, targets of 30% or more efficiency and ¥12/kWh or less for residential use. https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101909.html
- NEDO Attachment 2 to the same release, project summary (in Japanese, February 2026): Choshu Industry and Kaneka, project size of about ¥12.8 billion and support of about ¥9.4 billion, grant rates of two-thirds and one-half. https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/800047862.pdf
- NEDO News release, "One new project selected for the Next-Generation Single-Junction Solar Cell Demonstration Project" (in Japanese, 6 August 2026): budget of ¥62.3 billion (NEDO support), demonstrations at public facilities, infrastructure sites and overseas. https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101958.html
- NEDO Attachment 2 to the same release, project summary (in Japanese, August 2026): Aisin, FY2026 to FY2030, project size of about ¥15.6 billion and support of about ¥9.8 billion (¥11.3 billion including incentive payments). https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/800059483.pdf
- NEDO News release on the publication of "Design and Installation Guidelines for Photovoltaic Systems Using Flexible Solar Cells" (in Japanese, 18 March 2026): the compiling organisations, scope and plans for a revised edition. https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101922.html
- NEDO Project page, "Technology Development Project for Expanding Photovoltaic Deployment" (in Japanese): project code P25011, FY2025 to FY2029, FY2025 budget of ¥3.2 billion and R&D items. https://www.nedo.go.jp/activities/ZZJP_100337.html
- Secretariat of the Public-Private Council for Expanding Deployment and Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness of Next-Generation Solar Cells "Recent developments concerning next-generation solar cells" (in Japanese, 20 May 2026): partners and subcontractors of Green Innovation Fund implementers, and the proposal of a performance evaluation method as an international standard. https://www.meti.go.jp/shingikai/energy_environment/perovskite_solar_cell/pdf/010_01_00.pdf
9. Claim-to-source audit
| Claim in the article | Category | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full name, headquarters, establishment, supervising minister, 1,640 staff, ¥505.2 billion budget, ¥11.3668 trillion in funds, ¥2.7564 trillion Green Innovation Fund | Sourced | Reference 1 https://www.nedo.go.jp/introducing/kihon.html |
| The project's ¥105.1 billion budget cap and the targets for single-junction and tandem cells | Sourced | Reference 2 https://green-innovation.nedo.go.jp/project/next-generation-solar-cells/ |
| Implementers and themes, the end of (2) in FY2025, Sekisui Solar Film as lead, publication of business strategy visions | Sourced | Reference 3 https://green-innovation.nedo.go.jp/project/next-generation-solar-cells/scheme/ |
| The R&D and social implementation plan is published on METI's website | Sourced | Reference 4 https://green-innovation.nedo.go.jp/project/next-generation-solar-cells/resources/ |
| METI created the fund at NEDO, NEDO runs calls and selection, and the ¥49.8 billion total at launch | Sourced | Reference 5 https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101501.html |
| Periods, support amounts and implementers for (1) and (2), and modules of 900 cm² or more | Sourced | Reference 6 https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/100940818.pdf |
| The ¥37.8 billion budget for (3) (2024) | Sourced | Reference 7 https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101779.html |
| Implementers, period and support of about ¥12.5 billion for the September 2024 selection | Sourced | Reference 8 https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/100982236.pdf |
| Field demonstrations including overseas sites from the September 2025 selection | Sourced | Reference 9 https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101885.html |
| The three projects selected in September 2025, their period and support of about ¥24.6 billion | Sourced | Reference 10 https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/800032097.pdf |
| The ¥15.33 billion cap for (4), its period and targets | Sourced | Reference 11 https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101909.html |
| Implementers in (4), project size of about ¥12.8 billion, support of about ¥9.4 billion and grant rates | Sourced | Reference 12 https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/800047862.pdf |
| The ¥62.3 billion budget for (3) (August 2026), and demonstrations at public facilities, infrastructure sites and overseas | Sourced | Reference 13 https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101958.html |
| Aisin's selection, period and support of about ¥9.8 billion (¥11.3 billion) | Sourced | Reference 14 https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/800059483.pdf |
| Publication date, compiling organisations and scope of the installation guidelines, and a revised edition by FY2027 at the latest | Sourced | Reference 15 https://www.nedo.go.jp/news/press/AA5_101922.html |
| Period, budget and R&D items of the Technology Development Project for Expanding Photovoltaic Deployment | Sourced | Reference 16 https://www.nedo.go.jp/activities/ZZJP_100337.html |
| AGC, Toyoda Gosei and YKK AP as partners or subcontractors, and the proposal of a performance evaluation method as an international standard | Sourced | Reference 17 https://www.meti.go.jp/shingikai/energy_environment/perovskite_solar_cell/pdf/010_01_00.pdf |
| The four types of institution | Our calculation | Our own classification |
| The total of about ¥48.4 billion for (3), total support of about ¥77.1 billion, the gap of about ¥28 billion to the cap, the share of about 3.8% of the Green Innovation Fund, and the 2.1-fold expansion | Our calculation | Our own calculation from figures in references 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 |
| How the gap to the cap will be used, and the amounts actually granted to each theme | Not yet confirmed | Not stated in references 2 to 14; this article does not estimate them |
| The two points marked "Inference" in the outlook (section 6) | Inference | This article's reading of the periods, budgets and aims in references 6 to 13, 16 and 17 |
Last updated 25 September 2026 / Troy Technical
All figures come from NEDO's website, news releases and project summaries, and from documents published by the secretariat of the public-private council. Items marked "Inference" are this article's reading of the primary information, not statements by NEDO.