KYOCERA surpasses 2 million solar modules produced in North America

Friday, Dec 14, 2012

Kyocera Solar Inc., a leading supplier of reliable solar modules and renewable energy solutions, today announced that Kyocera's North American manufacturing facilities have surpassed production of two million photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. Kyocera has been producing modules in North America since 2004 and its solar solutions are used in a variety of applications including residential, commercial, and utility-scale projects across the Americas, Australia and select regions worldwide.

“This milestone demonstrates Kyocera’s ongoing leadership in growing the solar industry worldwide”

Kyocera has been a leading developer of innovative power solutions for more than 37 years, setting repeated world records in multicrystalline silicon cell efficiency and most recently producing cells with the highest conversion efficiency level in the world at 17.8 percent¹. Manufacturing facilities in San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico produce PV solutions for rural and urban areas, harvesting the sun’s energy to help power everything from remote villages solely reliant on solar power to large sports arenas and utility-scale solar farms.

“This milestone demonstrates Kyocera’s ongoing leadership in growing the solar industry worldwide,” said Steve Hill, president, Kyocera Solar Inc. “It took more than five years for Kyocera to reach the one million module mark at our North American operations and only two years to double it. We’re seeing many regions increasingly embrace high-quality solar energy solutions, and ongoing innovations from Kyocera will continue to improve efficiencies.”

Kyocera produced its first PV modules more than 30 years ago in Japan and expanded its production to Tijuana, Mexico in 2004. The Company increased its production again with its first U.S. production of solar modules in San Diego in 2010. In addition to the operations in San Diego and Tijuana, Kyocera currently has solar module manufacturing facilities in Japan, China and the Czech Republic.

Twenty-five Kyocera facilities worldwide feature their own on-site solar electric systems, with total generating capacity of 2.7 megawatts — including a 214-kilowatt Solar Grove parking lot in San Diego and a 100-kilowatt rooftop system in Tijuana. The Company’s solar solutions are powering installations at notable locations in the San Diego/Tijuana region, including the San Diego Zoo; the SDG&E Energy Innovation Center; San Diego State University; University of California, San Diego; University of San Diego; Point Loma Nazarene University; San Diego Children’s Museum; and the Gloria E. McClellan Senior Center in Vista.

Kyocera established U.S. operations in 1969 and was the first Japan-based corporation to commence manufacturing operations in the State of California, in 1971.

¹ Highest conversion efficiency of any multicrystalline silicon photovoltaic cell in mass production. Based on research by Kyocera; as of October 2012.

Source: Business Wire