Sanyo Electric and Nippon Oil announce joint solar venture
Sanyo’s Solar Ark solar generator
Daylife/AP Photo by Katsumi Kasahara
Japan’s Sanyo Electric and Nippon Oil announced they would collaborate to produce thin-film solar cells for large-scale power generation. The 50-50 joint venture will spend roughly 20 billion yen (226 million dollars) to build a factory in Japan that can annually produce enough solar cells to produce electricity worth 80 megawatts.
The venture should have capacity of one gigawatt by March 2016 and two gigawatts by March 2021, when the companies estimate the solar cell market will be worth 10 trillion yen.
“The solar power market is showing temporary flat growth for now due to the global slowdown, but we expect the market to grow significantly in the medium- to long-term,” Sanyo president Seiichiro Sano told a news conference.
The venture will initially target markets in Asia, the Middle East and Oceania. They will include the United States in their goals if and when Congress and the White House ever get beyond panicking over the economy.
The current global economic crisis should not pose significant problems, as the venture focuses on long-term projects, Nishio said. “The current economic situation will eventually improve. We are not concerned about the effects of the current economic condition on the management of this company,” he said.
Ain’t it something to hear from some of the Big Boys outside the U.S.? Instead of whining about the next two quarters of Wall Street crumbling, they’re focusing on how to make long-term money from manufacturing sensible infrastructure products.
If the U.S. going to take the lead in renewable energy, or even play any part in it at all other than as an importer (as we are with everything else), we better get moving. We’re starting off way behind.
Misanthropic Scott
January 26, 2009 at 2:43 pm
“Ain’t it something to hear from some of the Big Boys outside the U.S.? Instead of whining about the next two quarters of Wall Street crumbling…”
They probably don’t have the same pressing concerns as Wall Street.
The only reason Wall Street is panicking is because they have to figure out how to come up with those tens of millions of dollars to pay the CEOs, each and every year. That’s a real burden!
Luckily, the government has decided to simply take money from the poor and the middle class and hand it over to the Big Boys with no strings attached. Problem solved.
I mean, the world would come to an end if the CEOs didn’t get their tens of millions of dollars, each and every year on schedule, wouldn’t it? Sure it would! At least, that’s what they told us…
Cinaedh
January 27, 2009 at 6:37 am