Environment : Products that contribute to CO₂ reduction

This product provides both comfort and energy saving throughout the year.
In addition to conventional energy charge comfort and humidity control, the Aeolia X Series has achieved further improvements in energy conservation through Eco-Inverter Control, which realizes low-capacity operation through the advancement of precise air volume control and compressor control. Furthermore, in the advanced AI Comfort Omakase system, we have built a unique algorithm that determines the optimal temperature based on user data we have accumulated, and with one button, it is now possible to automatically set not only the operating mode according to the current environment but also the comfortable temperature.
In recognition of these efforts, the Aeolia 24XS/HX Series was awarded the Energy Conservation Center Chairperson's Award in the 2023 Energy Conservation Grand Prize. This is the third consecutive year that the Aeolia X Series has received the Energy Conservation Grand Prize.

The GHP (Gas Heat Pump air conditioner) is an air conditioning system that drives the compressor in the outdoor unit with a gas engine and uses a heat pump to perform the heating and cooling.
The "XAIR III" ultra-high efficiency GHP launched in 2020 has a reduced machine size and maintenance space and its installation space was reduced by 17% from that for conventional models. In addition, thanks to technical development such as improvements to the freezing cycle efficiency and blower efficiency, approximately 10% reduction of the annual energy consumption of the GHP have been realized compared with the previous series, which indicates that the GHP has simultaneously realized both smaller size and more energy saving.
These aspects have been evaluated very highly and the GHP has received many awards, including the Energy Conservation Grand Prize 2020 (Director-General of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Award).

Panasonic will contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality by promoting self-consumption of renewable energy with the Ohisama Eco Cute.
The Ohisama Eco Cute uses atmospheric heat, solar power, and electricity to boil water. CO₂ emissions and the cost of heating and lighting can be reduced.
Today, people seek new lifestyles aimed at energy self-sufficiency. And the environment surrounding us is constantly changing due to global warming and natural disasters.
The Ohisama Eco Cute is environmentally friendly, using energy generated by solar power effectively to produce hot water.

An absorption chiller is an air conditioning system that uses the heat of vaporization of refrigerant under vacuum, without using a compressor. The chiller uses water as the refrigerant and thermal energy as the operational power source such as the waste heat from factories and the combustion heat of gas. Therefore, the chiller is suitable for air conditioning for large-scale facilities such as domed stadiums, as air conditioning equipment that is environmentally friendly because of low power consumption. The system has large advantages that it is possible to lower the electric power load peak when the cooling load is high, that it uses water as a natural refrigerant, and that the outdoor unit installation space required is smaller than the one required for other air conditioning facilities of a similar capacity.
Compared with conventional products, this chiller reduces the rated cooling water flow rate by 30% and the cooling water pump conveyance power by 65.7%. This reduces the electric power consumed by the cooling water pump, which is a unit that consumes a large amount of power, minimizing it as far as possible. Furthermore, the 23.5% reduction of gas combustion through the utilization of waste heat indicates that energy-saving has been realized. These reduction were favorably evaluated for the product as a whole and it received the Promotion Award of the Heat Pump & Thermal Storage Technology Center of Japan in the 2017 Demand-Side Management Awards.

Aquarea Air to Water (A2W), which is marketed in Europe, is an environmentally friendly next-generation heating system that utilizes renewable energy.
This is an environmentally friendly next-generation heating system that utilizes renewable energy. It achieves industry-leading energy efficiency and can be linked to solar power generation systems. Ahead of other companies, the company has a lineup that uses propane (R290), a natural refrigerant.
It contributes to further reducing environmental impact. It also received the Good Design Award for outstanding industrial design. It also offers services that are closely related to customers'daily lives, such as remote monitoring using the IoT cloud.
In 2024, it plans to release an additional lineup of high-capacity A2W units for condominiums. Aquarea will continue to evolve as a product that is friendly to both the environment and people.

When there is only a small difference between the temperatures indoors and outdoors in spring or autumn, this Heat Exchange Ventilation System suppresses the power consumption by reducing the exhaust air flow rate, while keeping the same supply air flow rate. When the air temperature outdoors is lower than those of indoors and there is an increase in natural ventilation because of draughts and the like in winter, the ventilation system suppresses the power consumption by reducing the amount of ventilation (both the air supply and the exhaust).
The ventilation system efficiently controls switching between the two DC motors for the air supply and exhaust with a constant air flow control function, the heat exchange ventilation, and the normal ventilation, using the temperature sensors and humidity sensors. Accordingly, the optimal air flow and the ventilation method realize both comfort and energy-saving.

Silky Fine Mist is a registered trademark of a mist capable of spraying fine mist particles (approximately 6~10μm) even in low-pressure air (0.25MPa or less). A two-fluid humidifier (atomizer) using a nozzle that sprays Silky Fine Mist has a flexible construction method and can be easily installed in any location.
By using this system in processes that require humidification in factories, the heating energy of conventional indirect steam humidifiers and the electrical energy of electrode-type steam humidifiers are not required, making it possible to significantly reduce power consumption compared to conventional humidifiers. In addition, the low air pressure drive makes it highly energy-saving. The Green AC Flex electric atomizer (atomizer model number AE-GF011 and nozzle model number AE-GNG013) has been selected as a the Ministry of the Environment LD-Tech "FY 2023" certified product. In addition, the introduction of a factory humidification system using Silky Fine Mist, which is scheduled to be commercialized in the summer of 2024, will contribute to energy conservation in factories by humidifying large spaces with fine mist.

The 9X series of GX-compatible refrigerators received the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Prize, the highest award in the product and business model category of the FY 2023 Energy Conservation Awards.
The main features are: (1) AI cooling, which reduces wasteful power consumption by using AI to learn how customers use the refrigerators and optimize the defrosting operation according to the lifestyle of each household; (2) Umamori preservation, which reduces temperature fluctuations in the refrigerator and suppresses frost formation on the surface of food to maintain long-term flavor; and (3) Blackout preparation mode, in which AI cooperates with weather warnings to maintain low temperatures in the refrigerator even during power outages and reduce food waste loss. The system achieves top-class power consumption (600 L class) in accordance with JIS standards, and reduces power consumption during defrosting in actual use by 22%. The reduced power consumption reduces CO₂ emissions, reduces food loss, and contributes to resilience in adapting to climate change.

'Ene Farm' residential fuel cell unit is a system that provides high efficiency for power generation and energy saving benefits. 'Ene Farm' extracts hydrogen from city gas (natural gas) or LP gas, and then chemically reacts the extracted hydrogen with oxygen in the air to generate electricity. The heat generated by the reaction is stored in a hot water storage tank and can be used at home.
All of 'Ene Farm' units are equipped with the LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) communication function as standard that enables receiving weather information through cloud. In the case that 'Power Outage Risk Prediction' is received, its power generation mode is automatically switched to be prepared for power failure. Even in the event of a power failure at midnight or other times when the 'Ene Farm' has stopped generating electricity, there is no need to restart the 'Ene Farm' with an external power source. Therefore, 'Ene Farm' users can use electricity without worrying even in the event of a power failure.
In addition, for the case that the gas supply is stopped, a new function is equipped to boil water using its electric heater. Moreover, when the water supply is cut off, the hot water in its hot water storage tank can be used as domestic water. Thanks to these features, with one 'Ene farm' unit, it facilitates securing the minimum necessary infrastructure in the event of a disaster, such as 'electricity in the event of a power outage', 'hot water in the event of a gas supply stop', and 'domestic water in the event of a water outage'. Therefore, 'Ene Farm' users can spend time at home without worrying even when they are forced to sheltered at home.

'Emanage' is a cloud-type service that provides continuous support for energy-saving activities at facilities, from detection of a problem to operation and improvement of the facility. As for visualization, based on the measurement results of the power consumption by circuit breaker, transition of the measurement results such as gas can be displayed by year, month, week, day (1 hour) , and day (30 minutes) on the monitor. Moreover, based on the measurement results of power consumption by system, details of the power consumption by electric light and power systems can be checked in stacked bar graphs on the monitor. 'Emanage' clarifies when, where, for what, and how much electricity is used, and then, improves operations such as demand control of lighting equipment and air conditioners in response to the detected problem, which contributes to reducing energy consumption of the customer.

The technology we cultivated in the household fuel cell unit 'Ene-Farm' has been applied to our Pure Hydorgen Fuel Cell (PHFC) unit. For example, by sharing the Fuel Cell Stack, a key device in fuel cells, with 'Ene-Farm', PHFC units achieved stable power generation performance and 56%^*7 of the power generation efficiency that is the highest in the industry^*6. In addition, since targets of the PHFC units are for commercial use, their power output has been enhanced to 5 kW, which is more than 7 times the power output (700 W) of a household 'Ene-Farm'. Furthermore, by connecting and controlling multiple PHFC units, output of the power generation is scaled out according to the power demand, and by taking advantage of the lightweight and compact size of the housing, PHFC units are flexibly installed in response to various installation conditions such as building rooftops and small spaces.
In fiscal 2023, we started operation of 'H2 KIBOU FIELD', a demonstration facility for 'RE100 Solution' that uses 100% renewable energy^*8 for all of the electricity used by the manufacturing department at the fuel cell plant in our Kusatsu site in Shiga, using self-generated power in combination of pure hydrogen fuel cells and solar cells. Visitors of the facility can feel the CO₂ reduction solutions using hydrogen familiar to them.
Panasonic will contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society through proposing new options toward expansion of adoption of renewable energy use, namely a full-scale use of hydrogen.

*6 From Panasonic research on power generation efficiency with pure hydrogen fuel cells as of October 1, 2021.
*7 All efficiencies are expressed in accordance with LHV standards (LHV (Lower Heating Value): the amount of net calorific value after deducting the latent heat of condensation of water vapor generated when fuel gas is completely combusted.)
*8 We can meet RE100 requirements by using green hydrogen generated from renewable energy, including use of environmental value certificates. Although we did not use hydrogen derived from renewable energy at the time of the demonstration, we aim to use hydrogen derived from renewable energy in RE100 in the future.

'AiSEG2' is a HEMS that proposes a new lifestyle by connecting various home appliances and housing equipment in the house to the Internet and making them to operate in conjunction with each other. 'AiSEG2' facilitates your "I wish I could do it" at home in terms of three points: 'Time saving and convenience', 'Security', and 'Self-consumption^*9'.
In particular, 'Self-consumption' supports power saving through visualization of the amount of electricity used, control of the appliance or equipment in comfortable condition while saving electricity to be suited to various life scenes, and automatically control of the appliance or equipment when the power consumption exceeds the set target value for electricity.
In addition, with the AI solar charge ® function, 'AiSEG2' works in conjunction with weather forecasts and the amount of solar radiation per day, and enables wise utilization of the electricity created at home.
In response to the increasing needs for energy management at home in recent years, we plan to expand the range of connecting devices with 'AiSEG2'.

*9 Using up as much electricity generated by solar power generation systems as possible at home.

There are approx. 2 million redeliveries of home delivery goods a day in Japan.
Not only the same number of absence notification slips is consumed, but also estimation of discharged CO₂ from the truck for redeliveries is approx. 1,150 tons^*10.
'e-COMBO LIGHT', a home delivery communication box, is a box for home delivery with an electronic lock (battery-operated type) that not only reduces CO₂ and the number of slips for redeliveries as users can receive packages in the box when they are not at home, but also users can use the box for sending goods^*11
'e-COMBO LIGHT' is available in seven colors. With a wide variety of installation styles, including fixed installation, mounting it on a gate post with functions, and embedding it in external structure of the house, the box can be installed to be suited to a variety of houses regardless new or remodeled houses.

*10 Panasonic's estimation based on the 2014 Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism survey.
*11 For the information on how to use the pickup service for sending goods, please contact a courier.

'Techno Atsutaka Panel' is a panel dedicated to the earthquake-resistant housing construction method Technostructure. The insulating materials that are made by injecting foam gas, which is highly insulative, into a structure of microscopic bubbles whose thickness is like the thickness of a hair (less than 100 microns), are used in the panel. Integrating the materials for insulation and frames in the factory has achieved high quality in the insulation construction. In addition, a highly insulated house is built with less man hours than those in the conventional construction.
Technostructure is a highly earthquake-resistant wooden house construction method that enables large spaces and innovative exterior designs that were difficult to achieve with conventional wooden buildings, thanks to its unique wood-iron composite beams (Technobeams) and advanced structural calculations. With this construction method, ZEH^*12 can be achieved by using 'Techno Atsutaka panels' on the walls and by insulating the ceiling, floor, and other parts of the house respectively.

*12 ZEH: Net Zero Energy House. Housing that aims to achieve a zero balance in annual primary energy consumption through energy conservation and adoption of use of renewable energy.

Applying the development and manufacturing technology of plasma display panels, we manufacture and operate vacuum insulating glass that is approximately 6mm thin and has the industry's highest class^*13 insulation performance. In addition to float glass^*14 specifications, we have developed tempered glass specifications for the first time in Japan. Taking advantage of the characteristics of a vacuum layer that does not conduct heat, pillars (approximately 0.5mm in diameter) are placed at regular intervals to support a vacuum layer of approximately 0.1mm. Because of the extremely strong pressure applied to the pillars, high-strength materials such as metal are usually used. However, through the development of high-strength insulating materials and the development of high-speed mounting technology, we have realized thin and highly insulating vacuum insulating glass.
Glavenir received the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Prize in the 2020 Energy Conservation Grand Prize in recognition of these technological developments. In addition to improving the insulation and comfort of building window glass, the introduction of tempered glass specifications has contributed to significant energy conservation in refrigerated and refrigerated showcases.
We will contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society on a global basis by adopting this glass in various industries around the world that require energy conservation.

*13 In the vacuum insulated glass market. As of April 1, 2024, thermal transmittance of vacuum insulated glass with a total thickness of approximately 6 mm was measured to be 0.7 W/(m²・K) by our company.
*14 Glass widely used for window glass, etc.

Panasonic is currently reinforcing its rechargeable battery business targets for eco-conscious cars, for which demand is rapidly increasing against a backdrop of the rising awareness of global environmental protection, including the prevention of air pollution and global warming.
Automotive lithium-ion batteries are a major product of our business, and are widely adopted by our global customers. The lineup covers cylindrical and prismatic batteries. We are improving the battery capacity and output in order to extend the driving distance of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles, as well as to enhance the acceleration performance of hybrid vehicles. In response to a significant increase in demand, we have now expanded our production sites over three countries-Japan, the U.S., and China.