KYOCERA upwardly revises annual solar cell production to 1GW by March 2013

KYOTO, JAPAN: Kyocera Corp. will increase its annual solar cell production targets to meet the growing demand for solar energy products in the global market. New targets aim for an incremental increase to 1 gigawatt (GW) per year by March 2013 — 2.5 times more than the current fiscal year 2010 production volume of 400MW.*Fiscal years run from the preceding April 1 to March 31 of the indicated year.

As part of the new plan to increase annual cell production, Kyocera has recently completed construction of a new cell manufacturing plant in Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan which will operate in addition to the company's existing Shiga Yohkaichi Plant.

In response to growing demand Kyocera has established local production and supply networks for solar modules in North America, Europe, Japan and China — the world's four largest solar energy markets. In addition to the solar cell production increase, the company will continue to enhance its module assembly capability.

"Kyocera will continue to contribute to solving increasing environmental issues by providing solar panels with high quality and high reliability for the creation of clean energy," stated Tetsuo Kuba, president of Kyocera.