Kyocera is to build a large scale solar cell manufacturing facility in Japan.
"Combined with our existing Yohkaichi plant, the new facility will permit the company to more than double its annual production of solar cells," said the firm," from this year's projected output of 300MW to 650MW by March 2012."
The new plant will manufacture back-contact cells which yields 18.5% energy conversion efficiency.
Construction is planned to start in early 2009 and be completed by year's end, with production scheduled to begin in the spring of 2010.
Kyocera is an integrated manufacturer of solar modules, from procuring and casting raw silicon to producing solar cells and assembling ready-to-install solar modules.
It has local production and supply networks for solar modules in Japan, Europe, North America and China.
See also: The Electronics Weekly focus on solar cells, presenting a roundup of content related to photovoltaic technologies, converting light sources to energy.