Sanyo Electric Co., announced plans to raise production capacity for solar cells to 1,000 megawatts a year — 15 times its present capacity — by 2010, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources.
Sanyo intends to spend 7-8 billion yen by fiscal year 2006 to set up cell lines at its Osaka Prefecture plant. It has already decided to boost annual solar cell output capacity by 140% to 153 megawatts next spring by starting operations at a new building at the Osaka plant on January 6 and by expanding a production subsidiary in Shimane Prefecture, the report said.
By adding lines at the Osaka plant, Sanyo’s group-wide output capacity is expected to increase to 250 megawatts annually in financial 2006. It also plans to expand production capacity for modules in Japan, Mexico, Hungary and elsewhere.
In sales, Sanyo intends to focus on the European market, mainly Germany, to take advantage of government aid for solar cell installation. It plans to introduce a high-output module in Europe in April 2005.
Sanyo’s sales in its home-use solar cell business are expected to exceed 40 billion yen in the year to March 2005, 80% more than in the previous year. It plans to increase this segment’s sales to about 200 bln yen by 2010.
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