Mitsubishi plans big expansion in solar power

Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp said Wednesday it will spend 50 billion yen (458 million dollars) to boost solar power cell production four-fold by early 2012 amid growing interest in renewable energies. The group said it will build a new facility on the site of an existing plant in Nagano Prefecture to step up production of photovoltaic cells in response to a sharp increase in demand for solar power generation systems.
"This market is expected to grow globally by about 20 percent every year," said Aiji Suzuki, director of Mitsubishi Electric's main solar panel plant. "The demand for solar power will likely reach 5,550 megawatts by 2012." The company aims to increase its solar power cell production to 600 megawatts by early 2012 from the current 150 megawatts level, he said.