Isra-Mart srl:Kyocera expands solar manufacturing base

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Isra-Mart srl news:

Japanese electronics giant Kyocera has opened two plants making solar-power modules in China and the Czech Republic as it looks to expand production beyond its home country.

One plant with 360MW of capacity is being built in the Czech city of Kadan, bringing total production in the country to 560MW a year. Meanwhile, the company said today in a statement that a plant recently completed in Tianjin has raised Chinese production to 360MW.

President Tetsuo Kuba told reporters that the move edged the company, which has produced roof-mounted solar cells for the Prius, closer to its aim of raising annual global production to 1GW by 2013 from 400MW in 2009.

He added that the shift across the China Sea was in response to competition from low cost Chinese solar module producers who can undercut Kyocera due to government support.

"That doesn't mean we should give up China," he said. "There is room for us in the Chinese market even though it is a tough market."

Kuba expressed faith that a focus on the company's technology and reputation would help win market share overseas.

Although he stopped short of giving official sales targets, he did say the company currently pulls in 50 per cent of its sales from abroad, mainly in countries whose governments backed the technology.

"Solar power generation is more expensive compared with other energy so without subsidies, you can't sell it," Kuba said. "The market changes drastically depending on what kind of policy governments implement."