FUJI ELECTRIC JOURNAL November/2005 (Vol.78-No.6)

TOP PAGE 1. Energy Solutions
2. Clean System Technology

Overview of Fuji Electric's Energy Solutions
Kazuhiro Oohashi
Amid the ever-increasing severity of environmental problems such as global warming, the Kyoto protocol has been enacted, and in response, basic energy plans that take into account the globalization of the world economy have been announced publicly and policies that promote solutions to environmental problems are being advanced. By focusing on energy (distribution) technology within the energy generation- distribution-consumption cycle, Fuji Electric aims to achieve harmony between existing large-scale energy systems and distributed energy systems that use new types of energy and the like, and to realize energy savings. Fuji Electric has also been working to develop comprehensive energy solutions for its customers, which include ESCOs.

The Latest Power System Control Technology
Satoru Takahashi, Takashi Yoshida, Kazushi Ikeuchi
Advances in LAN and WAN technology have enabled the configuration of power monitoring and control systems in which the systems need not be aware of the location of installed computers. As technology for configuring wide-area distributed monitoring and control systems, this paper introduces wide-area distributed middleware and components that support an IP network. Prediction techniques that utilize neural networks and maintenance techniques that support the efficient use of facilities are also introduced as techniques that contribute to the more efficient use of power.

The "Spectrum PowerCC" Energy Management System
Naotaka Miyamura, Masao Nakamura, Naoki Hayashi
Well suited for an energy environment that changes in response to deregulation and the shift toward an IT-oriented society, Spectrum PowerCC enables a reduction in the total cost of ownership through modular software, engineering tools, flexible platforms, and the like. Spectrum PowerCC is also able to provide energy control and generation management functionality, including the capability to manage energy transactions for electric utilities and industries. This paper describes the features and the fields of application of the Spectrum PowerCC system, and also presents such solutions as Fuji Electric's independently developed applications which include a transaction support function compatible with the Japan Electric Power Exchange.

Automatied Meter Reading and Electricity Meters in Response to Electric Power Retail Deregulation
Masaru Nagashima, Masayuki Kamijyou, Yasuji Shimizu
This paper presents an overview of the progress in electric power retail deregulation and the status of adoption of electricity meters and automated meter reading since March 2003, and describes the desired role for electricity meters and automated meter reading. Automated meter reading system configurations are presented, both in their current state and as configurations for large and high-voltage customers, and the main types of communication media in use are described. New high-voltage and low-voltage electricity meters are also introduced.

Technology for Distributed Energy Systems
Eijiro Ibaragi, Tomohiro Suzuki, Shinsuke Nii
Distributed energy systems attempt to stabilize the supply of local energy, including new energy, and are in the spotlight as a means for supporting power utility deregulation and responding to environmental problems. This paper focuses on micro-grids, which are a form of a distributed energy systems, and introduces Fuji Electric's measuring and information processing technology, power balancing control technology, power grid stabilization technology, measuring system and widearea PQ measuring system for distribution system. The Kyoto Eco- Energy Project (KEEP) is presented as an example.

Current Status and Future Trends of Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells
Masahiro Sakurai, Toshiaki Sakai
Fuji Electric has developed an amorphous silicon solar cell module supported with plastic thin film instead of plate glass. This paper describes the structure (SCAF structure) and production process for this solar cell module which uses a roll-to-roll system and is well-suited for mass production. Characteristics and field test results of flexible solar cell modules, specifications of the steel plate-integrated solar cell module and the flexible solar cell module that were brought to market in October 2004, and examples of system installations that use these modules are also presented.

The Present Status of Fuel Cells and Outlook for Development
Yoshimi Horiuchi, Hideo Nishigaki, Kenichi Kuroda
This paper describes the present status of a phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) that Fuji Electric has introduced to the marketplace, a hydrogen supply system that uses fuel cells, and the development status of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC). Commercial PAFCs have been supplied since 1998, and the number of sites at which their cumulative operation time has exceeded the targeted service life of 40,000 hours is increasing. Also, in consideration of the transition to a hydrogen-oriented society in the near future, Fuji Electric is working to develop a hydrogen supply system that uses fuel cells. In preparation, Fuji Electric is advancing PEFC technology by planning field tests, promoting evaluation at actual sites, and accelerating development aimed at achieving lower cost, and improved durability and massproducibility.

Connecting Wind Power to the Grids
Kenji Yago, Kazuaki Koshi
The full-scale adoption of wind power, which does not burden the environment, is highly anticipated and Japan's targeted adoption by FY2010 is 3,000 MW. However, as of March 2005, this adoption has remained at 930 MW. A major cause of the lower than anticipated power output is the fluctuation in power output due to the climate dependency of wind power, and there is concern that frequency and voltage-related problems will occur when connected to a grid. This paper focuses on frequency-related problems when a wind power generation plant is connected to a grid, and explains, with reference to Fuji Electric's successful experience, that this problem can be solved through the combination of a wind power generation plant and a power storage facility.

Application of ESCO and Energy-saving Technology
Eiji Fukuda, Takeshi Uemura, Susumu Sato
As an energy savings measure, ESCO (energy service company) businesses are attracting attention because of their ability to ensure a planned reduction in energy consumption and/or CO2 emission. To realize a healthy ESCO business, high-level energy savings techniques are essential and a database suited for the energy-saving ESCO business must be created. This paper describes an actual ESCO business and presents techniques for establishing a database that supports this ESCO business and examples of systems.

Predictive Maintenance Technology for Electric Equipment Maintenance
Kazuo Nishiyama, Kenzou Ichiishi, Souji Fukushima
Various types of electric equipment are used in the power generation and industrial fields, and after equipment has been delivered, maintenance management that is stable and low-cost over the longterm is needed. In response to this need, Fuji Electric has worked to develop predictive maintenance technology and support tools, and to strengthen a 24-hour-per-day 365-day-per-year service infrastructure. This paper describes Fuji's efforts in this regard, including the use of a "high-precision system for predicting the remaining life in an oil transformer" utilizing a "structured neural network and ensemble method" to reduce the 15 years of precision margin for the conventional method to 3 years, and to contribute greatly to optimal operation throughout the lifecycle.

Present Status and Future Outlook for Clean System Technology
Hiroyuki Yokomaku, Tomoyuki Sawada
In addition to strong demand for the adoption of environmental protection measures and lower initial cost, the clean rooms installed to improve yields and to guarantee quality at production plants in the semiconductor, LCD and medical product fields have become more varied due to the trend toward larger sizes in the LCD field, the trend toward mini-environment technology in the semiconductor field, and compliance with revisions to the Japanese Pharmaceutical Law in the medical field. Consequently, the distinguishing characteristics of clean rooms for each industry have become more conspicuous. This paper discusses the current status and challenges facing each industry, Fuji Electric's efforts concerning clean room technology, and the outlook for the future.

Clean Room Systems for Advanced LCD Factories
Takeshi Takamatsu, Mikio Matsuki, Kouji Okuda
Accompanying the popularization and trend toward larger-sized LCD televisions, the glass substrate, which is a key component for displays, has also trending to larger sizes. Consequently, factories are being expanded and taller buildings are being built, and there is an increasing need for larger-sized fine filter units (FFU) and faster air velocity to clean the substrate production space. This paper describes the technical changes that have occurred in clean room equipment for LCD panel factories, and also describes technology for the latest largescale factories, trends in integrated systems that remotely monitor and control the production environment at those latest factories, and the configuration and various functions of developed systems.

Clean Room Systems for Overseas Large-screen LCD Panel Factories
Yuichirou Minegishi, Narumi Fujise, Syuzou Kawamata
With the increasing popularity of digital television throughout the world, the production of LCD televisions is ramping up and television screen sizes are becoming larger and larger. In order to reduce the cost of manufacturing, glass substrates are being made larger, but because the manufacturing equipment and ancillary facilities also become bigger, larger clean room facilities inevitably become necessary, and the construction of large clean rooms is actively being promoted both in Japan and overseas. This paper presents the results of a TFT-LCD plant in Taiwan, an overview of a 6 th generation substrate size plant currently under construction, and Fuji Electric's efforts in this field.

Clean Systems for Medical Production Lines
Syuuichirou Matsuno, Ryouichi Yajima
A clean room (BCR) in an environment for the production of medical products is required to provide a suitable production environment that satisfies cleanliness, sterility, temperature and humidity conditions in consideration of the direction of airflow, room air pressure and the like to protect against cross-contamination, contamination from impurities, microorganisms and workers in order to ensure the quality of the medical products. This paper describes a hot and dry clean bench, leadshielded clean bench, which are distinctive clean room equipment for the medical production industry.

New Products for the Clean Room
Yutaka Hishita, Hideyuki Iwata, Yoshitaka Okagaki
As clean rooms achieve higher levels of cleanliness, greater amounts of energy are consumed, and consequently companies are stepping up their efforts to reduce energy consumption. Various innovations are also introduced onsite to boost yields and to increase work efficiency. As semiconductor LCDs become more highly integrated and denser, measures against chemical gas are also important to increase the yield. This paper introduces equipment used to prevent chemical contamination, a glove fitter, and a high-velocity air shower as examples of recent clean room equipment.

Quantified Systems and Sensors for a Clean Room Environment
Takayuki Nakamura, Shinichi Hiramoto, Kazuhiro Koizumi
With the increasingly expanding scope of quality control associated with the trends toward finer line widths and higher integration in the semiconductor manufacturing field, getting higher resolution and larger size in the LCD manufacturing fields and GMP in the medical product manufacturing fields, and HACCP in the food production field, and so on, there is a growing need for clean room manufacturing environment control, and amongst which, cleanliness control is extremely important for improving product quality and yield. This paper describes a clean room environment sensor and monitoring system that have been put on the market and are capable of continuously monitoring a clean room and visually displaying environmental data trends such as particle counts.

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