Originally published March 1 2007
Japanese companies ramp up solar panel production to meet accelerating demand
by M. T. Whitney
(NaturalNews) The production of solar energy cells has skyrocketed in recent years, and Japanese companies are cashing in on increased demand. Japanese manufacturers are responsible for 50 percent of all solar panel production, and more Nippon companies are going to be entering the fray this year.
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What you need to know - Conventional View
• Yano Research Institute Ltd., a market research firm, says that solar cell production jumped nearly 30 percent to between 2005 and 2006 and is expected to rise threefold by 2015.
• The numbers equal 1787.7 megawatts of power generation capacity for 2005 and more than 5,000 megawatts for 2015.
• Japan's Sharp Corp., Sanyo Electric Co., Kyocera Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. are dominant players in the market, with Sharp representing 25 percent of the market for photovoltaic cells.
• This year, automaker Honda Motor Co. expects to enter the market in fall 2007, and Fuji Electric Systems Co. - no relation to Fujifilm or Fuji Heavy Industries - plans to start making solar cells in April.
• Izumi Suda, an analyst at the Yano Research Institute, told The Japan Times that new technologies utilizing solar cells will encourage the use of solar power internationally.
• Other key players in the solar cell market are Europe and China.
• "We believe the solar power market has the potential for long-term growth . . . mainly led by strong demand in the European Union," Takashi Tomita, general manager at Sharp Corp.'s solar group, told The Japan Times.
What you need to know - Alternative View
Statements and opinions by Mike Adams
• Solar power is clean, green and renewable. The solar industry is poised to experience phenomenal growth in the years ahead, especially as fossil fuels become increasingly scarce and expensive.
Bottom line
• Solar cell production is up worldwide, and a collection of Japanese companies hold the combined dominant market share.
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