SANYO marks grand opening of Salem solar silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing plant

SALEM, USA: SANYO North America Corp. (SANYO), a subsidiary of and the North American regional headquarters of SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., based in San Diego, announces that the newest manufacturing plant for photovoltaic products, SANYO Solar of Oregon LLC, has officially opened in the Salem Energy and Technology Park, and production has officially started.

The plant, located in Salem, Oregon, will be producing silicon ingots and wafers, core materials to manufacture SANYO’s patented HIT (Heterjunction with Intrinsic Thin-layer) solar cells and modules that have the world’s highest solar light to electric energy conversion efficiency per installed square foot. While initial production has officially started, the plant plans to reach its full production capacity of 70-Megawatts annually by April 2010.

“With increasing awareness of the environment, more attention is focused on solar power, an area of strength for SANYO, as we are an industry leader with our HIT solar panels,” said Mr. Mitsuru Homma, Executive Vice President and Member of the Board of SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. “Our plant here in Salem will be key to making the materials needed to make finished solar modules, which will be installed to help create a more sustainable LEED system as a part of a home or business here in the USA and for SANYO customers around the world.”

SANYO is augmenting its facilities with the necessary equipment and construction of new facilities for future growth in response to market demand, moving forward to reach goals set for an annual global production capacity of at least 600 MW by FY 2010.

SANYO first started researching and developing amorphous solar cells in 1975 and was the world’s first to commercialize amorphous-type solar cell production in 1980. In 1997, SANYO started mass production and sales of its world-leading conversion efficiency HIT solar cells.

SANYO currently manufactures a large portion of silicon ingot and wafers in the US, the solar cells are made in Japan, with module assembly plants located in Mexico, Hungary and Japan.