AI screening example · run on October 23, 2026

Stocks set to grow with perovskite
solar mass production.

Panasonic has moved up mass production of perovskite solar cells by a year. So which Japanese companies are already moving toward mass production? Katana kept the 45 companies whose annual reports mention perovskite, and AI read each one and supported 2.

Background

Japan's perovskite solar cells head for mass production.

On October 20, Panasonic Holdings said it will start full mass production of glass perovskite solar cells in April 2029 at its site in Nagahama, Shiga, a year ahead of the original plan for fiscal 2030. In September, it began selling early production units made at its development site in Moriguchi, Osaka. They are meant to be built into windows and walls.

Perovskite solar cells are thin, light and bendable. They can go on building walls and on roofs too weak for today's panels. Their main raw material, iodine, is produced mostly in Chile and Japan. The government aims to install about 20 GW by 2040.

Others are getting ready too. Sekisui Chemical started its film-type business in March and is building a 100 MW plant in Sakai, Osaka. EneCoat Technologies, a Kyoto University startup, finished its plant in Uji, Kyoto, in October. It is starting to show in earnings: equipment maker NPC says in its annual report that it booked sales of development equipment for perovskite cells to several Japanese solar cell makers.

In China, GCL reportedly started a 1 GW-class mass production plant at the end of 2025. On October 19, Koshida Tec, which sells its modules, said shipments of the production units to Japan had begun.

Hypothesis

Before mass production starts, will equipment makers be the first to book sales?

When a new product heads for mass production, orders come in a sequence. First, while plants are being built, orders go to equipment makers. Materials sell in volume only once the plants are running.

Perovskite is now at the plant-building stage. Sekisui Chemical's Sakai plant is due for completion in March 2028, Panasonic's Nagahama site starts full production in April 2029, and EneCoat's Uji plant aims to be fully running in 2028.

So we used Katana to read every annual report that mentions perovskite, and checked where companies have taken a concrete step, such as sales, orders or a plant, across cells, equipment and materials.

01 / Input

The companies we wanted to find.

“We want companies that already make and sell perovskite solar cells, or supply equipment or materials made specifically for them, and that report a concrete step toward commercial production, such as sales, orders, a product launch, or a production line that is built, under construction, or decided with a stated investment.”

We used a word condition to keep companies whose annual reports mention perovskite (ペロブスカイト), turned this profile into two questions entered in English, and had the AI read each report, question by question.

02 / Conditions

The conditions we applied across Japan.

Quantitative

Katana computes its metrics for every company.

Annual report mentions “perovskite” (ペロブスカイト)

Qualitative

AI reads each annual report and judges support and counterevidence.

Does the company currently make and sell perovskite solar cells, or supply manufacturing equipment, materials, or components made specifically for perovskite solar cells (for example coating or inspection equipment, hole-transport materials, encapsulants, or barrier films) to customers, including sample shipments or evaluation by customers? (Do not count cases where the company only conducts basic research, only takes part in demonstration tests or installs perovskite cells made by others on its own facilities, only mentions perovskite solar cells as a market trend or future possibility, or only sells general products such as iodine that are not made specifically for perovskite solar cells.)
Does the company report a concrete step toward commercial production of perovskite solar cells or of its products made specifically for them, such as recognized sales, received orders, a product launch, or a production line for them that is built, under construction, or decided with a stated investment amount? (Do not count research plans, demonstration tests, evaluation by customers without orders, or general statements that the market is expected to grow.)

The questions were entered in English and judged in order.

~3,800listed companies

45match the numbers

2AI judged as supported

Katana

read the filings and supported 2.

03 / Results

2 supported. We also checked 5 that are close to mass production.

Of 45 companies, 2 were supported, 12 need review and 31 had counterevidence. Below are 7, in order: cell makers, equipment makers, then materials makers.

Sekisui Chemical4204 · Chemicals

Established 1-meter-wide production and installation specs for metal roofs, and started providing film-type perovskite solar cells as a business.Filing ↗A housing and plastics company. Its subsidiary Sekisui Solar Film is building a film-type plant in Sakai, Osaka, with ¥90 billion planned, due for completion in March 2028. It has begun supplying products for metal roofs to local governments and businesses.
Kuramoto5216 · Glass & Ceramics

Has ordered production equipment for its new perovskite business from Japanese and overseas makers, and installation at its Hanaizumi plant is under way.Filing ↗Judged as having counterevidence (it does not sell products yet). A glass substrate processing and service robot company. It booked the ¥863 million cost of a 1 MW line as R&D, treating it as a pilot plant. In August 2026, it was reported that its perovskite subsidiary will take investment from China's Jusi Chemical group to fund equipment for mass production, with Jusi set to hold 51.9% by the end of 2028.
NPC6255 · Machinery

Booked sales of perovskite development equipment and new silicon solar cell equipment to several Japanese solar cell makers.Filing ↗A maker of solar cell production equipment, selling mostly to a US solar cell maker. Sales for the year to August 2026 fell 37.3% to ¥5.8 billion as large orders slipped, and it expects ¥9.9 billion this year. In perovskite, it has won about ¥350 million in orders for inkjet coating equipment.
NIRECO6863 · Electric appliances

Its edge position control units, used on film production lines, have started to be used in production equipment for perovskite solar cells.Filing ↗Judged as needing review. A control and inspection equipment maker. Its units that align film edges have started to be used in perovskite production equipment, and it is also pitching film inspection equipment. Its order backlog rose 28.5% to ¥6.6 billion.
Nippon Fine Chemical4362 · Chemicals

Focuses on R&D and mass production technology for hole-transport materials for perovskite solar cells.Filing ↗Judged as needing review. A chemical company making cosmetic ingredients and more. It lists hole-transport materials, which carry charge out of the power-generating layer, as a strategic product and is settling its mass production technology.
MORESCO5018 · Oil & Coal Products

Customers are evaluating its materials for flexible devices and perovskite solar cells, built on its sealants for OLED devices.Filing ↗Judged as needing review. A specialty lubricant maker. It is upgrading its OLED sealants, which protect devices from water and air, for perovskite cells, and customers are evaluating them.
Konica Minolta4902 · Electric appliances

Its barrier film for film-type perovskite cells, built on OLED technology, is highly water resistant, and it is running trials with EneCoat Technologies.Filing ↗Judged as needing review. A maker of office printers. It is running trials of a barrier film from its film business with EneCoat Technologies, and is extending its inkjet heads to forming cell layers.

Note: NIRECO, Nippon Fine Chemical, MORESCO and Konica Minolta, which we added from those needing review, have products just coming into use, under customer evaluation, or in the stage of settling mass production technology. Kuramoto had counterevidence, but we added it because it has installed production line equipment. Panasonic Holdings mentions perovskite in its annual report only as a new market in its risk section.

View detailed results

This report is based on annual securities reports as of October 23, 2026.

04 / Takeaway

Orders are showing up for equipment. Materials are still being evaluated.

Of the 45 companies whose annual reports mention perovskite, 2 already supply perovskite products to customers and report sales or a plant: cell maker Sekisui Chemical and equipment maker NPC. The materials makers are still at the stage of customer evaluation or settling mass production technology. Most of the rest mention perovskite only in research, trials at their own sites, or market commentary.

Stage	Company	In the report
Cells	Sekisui Chemical	Business started, Sakai plant under way
Cells	Kuramoto	Pilot line booked as R&D
Equipment	NPC	Sales to several Japanese makers
Equipment	NIRECO	Now used in production equipment
Materials	Nippon Fine Chemical, MORESCO, Konica Minolta	Mass production tech, evaluation, trials

Equipment orders are starting to show in the numbers. At its October results, NPC said it had won about ¥350 million in orders for inkjet coating equipment, which prints cell layers like ink, and expects perovskite sales over the next five years of ¥16 billion in Japan and ¥11 billion overseas. That ¥27 billion is more than four times last year's sales of ¥5.8 billion.

Many more plants have to be built. Sekisui Chemical's Sakai plant is 100 MW, one two-hundredth of the government's 20 GW target for 2040. China's GCL is reportedly already running a 1 GW-class plant, ten times as large. Each new plant in Japan means equipment orders.

Cell makers are taking different paths. Kuramoto installed a 1 MW line but booked it as R&D, treating it as a pilot plant. Its perovskite subsidiary was later reported to be taking investment from China's Jusi Chemical group to fund equipment for mass production, with Jusi set to hold a majority by the end of 2028.

Materials makers are still waiting on customer evaluations, and cell makers are still building their plants. Equipment gets an order each time a plant goes up in Japan. Before mass production, the demand for perovskite shows up in numbers first on the equipment side.

Your stock-picking, handed straight to AI.

Katana narrows companies with its own metrics, and AI reads annual reports to judge qualitative conditions. For complex theses and company profiles, the selection you used to do one company at a time, AI now runs across the Japanese market.

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