Shimane SANYO to Start Up a New HIT Solar Cell Production Line

Increasing production capacity of Shimane SANYO from 130MW to 220MW

Tokyo.– SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (SANYO: Moriguchi City, Osaka) is pleased to announce that Shimane SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (Shimane SANYO: Unnan City, Shimane) will start up a new HIT solar cell production line, in anticipation of an active demand for photovoltaic systems worldwide stimulated by economic packages as represented by the Green New Deal. The new production line will be installed on the second floor of Factory Building No. 3 and is scheduled to begin operation in April 2010.

Shimane SANYO currently has a total HIT cell production capacity of 130MW. Its first production line was installed in 2001. With the completion of Factory Building No. 3 in FY2008, an additional line was installed on its first floor. The new line will be installed on the second floor and have a production capacity of 90MW. This will bring the total production capacity of Shimane SANYO up to 220MW.

Currently, SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (SANYO: Moriguchi City, Osaka) has two locations in Japan for HIT solar cell production: Nishikinohama Factory (Kaizuka City, Osaka) and Shimane SANYO. As the Solar business is one of the core businesses of SANYO and vital to its growth strategy, Shimane SANYO is an important base for the realization of this development. Shimane SANYO will contribute to the local community by expanding its photovoltaic system business

* HIT stands for Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer. HIT Solar Cell is a uniquely-structured hybrid-type solar cell developed by SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., which uses a crystalline silicon substrate and amorphous silicon thin film. Its high conversion efficiency and superior temperature characteristic enable the world’s highest power generation per installation area.