Who holds a JC-STAR label?
— All 395 are ★1, and none belongs to the 16 big Chinese makers

When you buy a storage site, you will now need to check the label on its devices. From April 2027, the control devices of grid-connected storage sites need a JC-STAR ★1 label.

So who holds that label? We counted the list published by the Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA), one entry at a time. This article is the entry point for those numbers.

Why a storage site needs a label

A storage site does not run on a box of batteries alone. The PCS changes the form of electricity. The BMS watches the battery. The EMS decides when to charge and discharge. Each is a small computer on a network.

Makers and maintenance firms can change settings and fix software from far away. This is convenient. But if someone hijacks that data path, they can stop the site from outside.

Countries have begun to take up this worry. In May 2025, Reuters reported that US experts had found undocumented communication devices in some Chinese-made inverters. The makers and the number of units were not disclosed. In November 2024, Lithuania banned by law remote control from China and other countries over solar, wind and storage plants above 100 kW.

Japan chose to draw the line with a label. For high-voltage and extra-high-voltage solar and batteries whose contract application is accepted on or after 1 April 2027, control devices connected to the internet need ★1. For low voltage, the date is 1 October 2027.

We wrote in 52-3 Existing plants that the starting point is the acceptance date of the contract application. The whole scheme is set out in COLUMN 14.

Terms used in this series

This series uses the terms below. All four articles share the same table.

The numbers

First, four figures for the whole list. All are our counts of IPA's list (Excel version, updated 12 November 2026).

How we chose the 189: we selected battery systems, PCS, BMS, EMS, metering and control units and remote monitoring from the product names and the description on each product page. General-purpose routers and cameras are not included.

★1 is the lowest level. The maker checks that it meets the rules and applies to IPA. No product has yet been assessed by a third party at ★3 or ★4.

So today, "★1 obtained" means this: the maker has checked that the basic locks are in place, and IPA has accepted the application.

Which countries' companies hold labels

Figure 1 splits the 189 solar and battery entries by the country of each company's headquarters. A Japanese subsidiary of a foreign parent is counted under the parent's country.

Japan has 137, or 70% of the total. In the grid-scale group these include Fuji Electric, Nissin Electric, TMEIC, Meidensha, Daihen, GS Yuasa, Sumitomo Electric, NGK Insulators and PowerX. In the residential group they include Nichicon, Choshu Sangyo, Panasonic, Kyocera and Omron.

Only one entry comes from a company headquartered in China. It is a residential metering and control unit from Suntech Power Japan.

The 11 entries marked "HQ not confirmed" include 3 RENON POWER batteries. The company says its headquarters is in the US, but it also has affiliates in China, and we could not confirm the parent's country.

The big Chinese makers are not listed yet

On 1 July 2026, Nikkei reported that the products of Chinese makers, which hold a large share of Japan's PCS and battery market, were not on the list. The 12 November list is the same. The table below shows where the 16 big Chinese-headquartered makers stand now.

IPA's list shows only labels that have been issued. From outside, we cannot tell whether a company has applied and is waiting, or has not applied.

Why have they not obtained labels? An executive of a Chinese maker told Nikkei: "Only Chinese companies' applications are being rejected. It is a de facto exclusion." METI said it judges "comprehensively, on the basis of the submitted information", and does not disclose individual decisions.

According to Nikkei, the application checklist has an item asking whether the company could be affected by foreign laws. Nikkei also reports an expert view that China's National Intelligence Law collides with this item. But the real reason cannot be confirmed from outside.

GoodWe's plan is shaped to fit the line of the requirement. ANRE's FAQ excludes devices without IP communication. But a device with IP communication needs ★1 even if that function is left unused. Whether the plan will be accepted has to be checked with the grid operator, project by project.

Taiwanese companies have moved in

Taiwanese companies have moved into the vacant seats. Seven companies obtained 14 labels. NextDrive, founded in Taiwan, holds 3 more.

Taipowerway (a subsidiary of J&V Energy) announced on 11 September 2026 that it obtained a label for EMS, but the company's name is not on the 12 November version. It may be listed under another name.

The wording of Japan's requirement has no nationality condition. So the seats left open by the Chinese makers can be taken by Taiwanese companies.

Labels were obtained in three waves

Figure 2 shows the number of labels obtained each month. There are three peaks.

1. October 2025 (24). Domestic grid-scale companies such as Fuji Electric, Nissin Electric, Daihen and Shirokuma Denryoku moved first. This was before the 20th Grid Code Review Committee (16 December 2025), which set out the direction of the requirement.
2. March to April 2026 (48). Mostly residential: 30 of the 48.
3. From June 2026. Grid-scale products from Taiwan and Korea came in.

By type of device

Figure 3 is a table that crosses the type of device with the country of the headquarters.

There are 14 PCS, the machines that change the form of electricity, for storage and grid use. Japan has 7, Taiwan 2, Korea 2, Europe 1 and HQ not confirmed 2. China has 0. For now, the PCS a buyer can choose in a project come from 12 companies and 14 products.

The first expiries come in May 2027

A ★1 label is valid for up to 2 years from the day it was obtained. The 10 labels obtained in May 2025 expire between 6 and 27 May 2027. That is the month after the requirement starts.

IPA said it would announce the details of the extension procedure "in 2026". As of 15 November, it has not done so. We list which products expire and when in 52-2 The list.

What a buyer checks is the registration number

The wording of Japan's requirement has no nationality condition. Even so, the big Chinese names do not appear on the list. The reason cannot be known from outside.

A buyer can check two things. Does the model number of the project's device match a product on IPA's list? And is that registration number valid now? The table for checking is in the next article, 52-2 The list.

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