Mitsubishi Electric Corp has announced it will invest ¥7 billion (A$77.5 million) as part of its effort to boost annual production capacity of solar energy to 220 MW from 150 MW in October 2008. The Tokyobased company also aims to establish a photovoltaic cell program that will have an annual capacity of 500 MW by fiscal 2013 (1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013), in response to a strong increase in demand for solar power generation systems. “Recently, the PV market has been growing rapidly, reflecting concerns of increasing prices of petroleum and other materials, as well as increased environmental awareness arising from international activities aimed at reducing CO2 emissions to prevent global warming,” President and Chief Executive Officer Setsuhiro Shimomura said. Mitsubishi Electric, which began its residential PV systems business in 1996, forecasts a global PV market size of 1950 MW in fiscal 2008, up 26% from the previous fiscal year. The company intends to improve output of solar power generation systems by combining its multi-crystal silicon cell technologies with its PV inverters, Shimomura said, adding that he expects a 30% rise in global shipment volume for fiscal 2008 versus the previous fiscal year.
