Panasonic announces Tsunashima SST Japanese Smart City project at IFA 2017

Panasonic continues to fast track advanced Smart City infrastructure and technology projects. European chairman and CEO Laurent Abadie (pictured above) announced a second Japanese Smart City project at IFA 2017, an area it is fast beginning to dominate. Panasonic’s first domestic Smart City, Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town, centred on residential development, while Tsunashima SST in Yokohama will address business development.

Abadie, who revealed his inner Mod by riding an electric scooter onto the stage, said the watch word this year was “sustainability.” Abadie declared that Panasonic would become an energy surplus company by 2018. “That means we will contribute more than we consume,” he said, before announcing a host of Smart Home and Energy Storage solutions. 

Smart Cities are like puzzle pieces, they have to fit in their own way into very different environments, he commented. The Tsunashima  facilities comprises smart apartments which maximise the use of IoT devices. For example, all apartments come with integrated tablets to operate smart appliances.

Abadie also revelaed that  Panasonic is currently ploughing R&D into hydrogen energy technology. “We aim for widespread use and widespread use and evolution of pure Hydrogen fuel cells by 2030. Our goal is to provide a safe and comfortable society through hydrogen technology,” he said.

“We announced in 2015 that residential storage batteries would come to Europe. This year, panasonic houses can now be powered by solar energy and battery storage,” said Abadie. A test project is now underway in the German town of Speyer, through a partnership with a local utility company. Users can rent or buy their own residential battery, with battery power taking over from the solar panel array when the sun goes down.

With Panasonic reaching its centenary year in 2018, Abadie said the company was increasingly looking towards AI and robotics for future developments, and voice recognition. AI and robotics permeated many of the brand’s IFA exhibits. Amongst its conceptual models were four typical life scenarios - the kitchen, education, dining and laundry.

One novel addition innovation was a fridge incorporating voice command and autonomous movement technology, allowing it to bring food and beverages directly to the user. In the laundry scenario, a “sustainable clothing maintainer” could analyse and identify the material against a manufacturer database. It will then automatically wash, dry, and individually fold clothes.

Panasonic moved into the Smart Assistant at IFA, with the SC-GA10, a Google Smart Assistant speaker. Mitichiko Ogawa, Director of Home Entertainment for Panasonic, said the company was adopting an audiophile approach to the GA10, with elements of high design. The elegant looking music system is due to launch in the UK early 2018, accompanied by a dedicated control app.

Panasonic’s booth was a showcase for energy solutions featuring solar panels, residential storage batteries, and the brand’s Aquaria heat pump and a fuel cell heating system.

A Tesla Model X, powered by Panasonic’s lithium battery cells, was on display at the show, as was Abadie's electric scooter.