Japanese Companies Show Robots, PV Inverters at ADSW 2018

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2018, an annual event that aims for a sustainable society utilizing environmental technologies, was held from January 13 to 20 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The conference sessions at the 8th World Future Energy Summit (WFES), a flagship event related to new energies with a focus on renewable energies, attracted 33,000 participants from 175 countries, and they actively discussed and exchanged information aiming for a sustainable society and energy transition.

On the exhibition floor, 850 companies showed off their products and solutions related to the environment and clean energy.

The presence of emerging countries where economic growth has been remarkable in recent years, such as China, India and the UAE, the hosting country, in particular, stood out from others in both the conference program and the exhibition floor.

Regarding solar panel manufacturers, there were booths of major Chinese manufacturers including Trina Solar, Jinko Solar or JA Solar as well as almost unknown companies in Japan, as if they all competed with each other (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Chinese solar panel manufacturers set up booths on the WFES2018 exhibition floor (photo: Nikkei BP Intelligence Group, CleanTech Institute)

In many conference programs and panel discussions, lecturers, companies or moderators from India, which seems to virtually lead the International Solar Alliance (ISA), announced solar projects or took the lead (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Mohua Mukherjee (left), Program Ambassador of ISA, served as the moderator at the WFES/Solar Expo session on off-grid solar power generation. (photo: Nikkei BP Intelligence Group, CleanTech Institute)

Also from Japan, which boast advanced environmental technologies, some companies exhibited their technologies related to clean energy, energy efficiency, water treatment, and so forth, mainly as part of the Japan Pavilion (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3: The Japan Pavilion on the WFES exhibition floor (photo: Nikkei BP Intelligence Group, CleanTech Institute)

No solar panel manufacturers participated in the exhibition related with solar power; however, Miraikikai Inc, a start-up company that develops and sells cleaning robots for utility-scale solar power plants, and Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corp (TMEIC), a major PV inverter manufacturer, showed off their presence with exhibition booths and conference presentations.