Solar energy systems provider Kyocera Corp. said it recently completed construction of its new solar cell manufacturing plant in Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture. The new facility was established to increase the company’s production capacity to meet the growing demand for solar energy products. The second facility is the largest Kyocera Group manufacturing plant in Japan, joining its Shiga Yohkaichi plant. At the Yasu plant, the main product to be manufactured is the company’s newly enhanced cell with an average energy conversion efficiency of 16.9%. The cells are utilized in the company’s 215-W solar module, which is slated for sales to the global market. “Together with the existing plant at Yohkaichi, the Yasu plant will be Kyocera’s core production site for solar cells,” said Tetsuo Kuba, president at Kyocera Corp. “In addition to mass-producing cells with Kyocera’s highest conversion efficiency, the new plant will also undertake R&D activities for next-generation cell technology.” Additionally, the company will increase its annual solar cell production targets to meet the growing demand for solar energy products in the global market. Its new targets aim for an incremental increase to 1 GW per year by March 2013 – 2.5 times more than the current fiscal year 2010 production volume of 400 MW. For more information, visit: www.kyocera.de