News Article
Solar boom in Japan fuels European solar production
The Japanese technology company Kyocera is looking to the future of solar power with optimism. The company's European"“based solar module assembly plant in Kadan, Czech Republic, is currently operating at full capacity "” and there are plans for further expansion. The "˜made in Europe' modules being produced here are helping to meet booming demand in Asia, among other places. In particular, high feed-in tariff rates are making Japan one of the most attractive countries for the solar industry.
The future markets for solar module manufacturers include the USA, Japan and Asia. Following the catastrophic disaster in Fukushima and subsequent shutdown of nuclear power plants throughout Japan, the solar industry is now rapidly growing in the "˜land of the rising sun.' Kyocera is utilising the capacity of its European solar module plant in the Czech Republic to serve the Asian market, among other regions. Moreover, the European plant will need to be expanded even further to satisfy the increasing demand for complete energy systems. "The future of our solar module plant in Kadan is secure," says the European President of Kyocera, Shigeru Koyama.
Fuelled by very attractive developments in solar power since July, experts are predicting that the Japanese solar market will rank third in the world by 2014 when it comes to the installation of solar modules "“ along with the previous industry leader, Germany. The market in Japan is rapidly expanding following state support and is dominated by the big Japanese manufacturers such as solar Kyocera. "The aim of Kyocera is to stand out from competitors in the highly competitive solar market through the high quality and reliability of our products, an attractive price performance ratio, high level of innovation, as well as by further expanding our solar business," says Shigeru Koyama.
The Czech Republic plant represents an important cornerstone in the Kyocera Group's global solar production network. Kyocera has been manufacturing ISO and TÜV-certified solar modules there since 2005 in sizes ranging from (36-cell modules (140 Wp) to 80- cell modules (320 Wp)) with 392 employees and a high level of technology from the company's homeland. Kyocera undertakes all `stages of production itself.
