August 28th, 2008 · No Comments

By John DeFore

Mitsubishi Electric announced Wednesday that it will quadruple its capability to produce solar cells, jumping from the 150 megawatts it currently produces each year to an annual 600MW capacity by 2012 — a more ambitious goal than its previously stated one to get to 500 MW by 2013. Current production levels are already triple what they were four years ago.

Citing a “sharp increase in demand for solar power generation systems,” the company (which opened its first PV plant in 1998) said it will build a new plant in Japan’s Nagano Prefecture — one with photovoltaic systems on the roof, naturally — with around 24,000 square meters of floor space.

If the company’s forecast of global demand for PV systems holds true, Mitsubishi will be well placed to supply a larger percentage of solar cells than it does now: A press release forecasts demand growing by less than a factor of three (from 1,950 MW to 4,430) in the same period its own capacity quadruples.

Of course, Mitsubishi — which also manufactures residential inverters for use with the solar cells — isn’t the only company hoping to get a piece of that pie. And increased supply from a variety of manufacturers (along with a greater number of solar design/installation companies entering the field) will almost surely bring prices down for businesses and homeowners wanting to harvest energy from the sun.

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