Sanyo Lays Out Major Solar Capacity Boost
In a range of expansions to take a larger share of the growing solar cell and module market, Sanyo plans to nearly double production capacity at various factories within the next 16 months.
Aaron Hand, Editor-in-Chief -- PV Society, 11/19/2009
Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. (Tokyo) laid out its plans this week to almost double its production capacity for solar cells and modules, detailing a variety of fab expansions throughout the world to capture more of the solar market. By early 2011, Sanyo expects take cell and module production capacity from its current 690 MW to 1190 MW.
Sanyo has completed the third factory building of its Nishikinohama Factory (Kaizuka City, Japan), where the solar cell manufacturer already operates its photovoltaic system business. High-volume production of its heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer (HIT) solar cells will begin at the new facility in December 2010 after equipment installation and tests are completed.
Completion of the third building will add 135 MW of production capacity to the Nishikinohama Factory, boosting capacity ~1.6× to 345 MW total. Shimane Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. (Unnan City, Japan), which is where the company's HIT solar cells are currently manufactured, also plans to increase its annual production capacity from 130 MW to 220 MW in April. By the end of March 2011, Sanyo should have a combined solar cell production capacity of 565 MW between the two factories.
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| Sanyo plans to boost its solar cell and module production capacity by ~1.7× by early 2011. |
Sanyo is also expanding its production of solar modules, with a three-pronged expansion approach in Japan, Europe and North America. A new building at its Shiga Factory (Otsu City, Japan) is scheduled to begin operation before the end of March 2011, which will double module production there to 200 MW. Production capacity will nearly double in Europe as well at the Hungary Factory (Dorog City, Hungary) - from 165 MW to 315 MW by the end of March 2011.
Earlier this month, Sanyo Energy SA de CV announced the official opening of its solar module assembly plant in Monterrey, Mexico. Sanyo said this week that the company has recently completed a system to increase its production capacity from 20 MW to 50 MW, with further expansion taking capacity to 75 MW by the end of March 2010.
Meanwhile, to secure a stable supply of the silicon materials needed to make all those cells and modules, the company has established Sanyo Solar of Oregon LLC (Salem, Ore.), also announced earlier this month. Between this plant and another operated by Sanyo Solar (USA) LLC (Carson, Calif.), Sanyo's ingot and wafer production volume will be 100 MW.
Sanyo has aims to move from its current 11th world ranking to become one of the world's top three solar cell makers, according to a report from the Jiji Press Ticker Service in Japan. The solar player plans to boost cell production capacity to 1.5 GW by 2015, the report said.
