Panasonic has unveiled plans for a 45bn yen ($580m), 300MW PV production plant in Malaysia, adding to the Southeast Asian nation’s growing status as a solar manufacturing hub.

The Japanese electronics giant says the vertically-integrated production facility will turn out wafers, cells and modules when it begins operation in December 2012.

The new factory will be built on a 70,000-square-metre site at the Kulim Hi-Tech Park in the Malaysian state of Kedah, employing 1,500 people.

Panasonic says the plant will help it meet anticipated growing demand for residential solar systems in Japan and elsewhere, and will produce its HIT (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin-layer) modules at Kulim.

Panasonic has stuck to its ambitions to become one of the world’s three largest PV manufacturers by 2015, despite recently suffering financial losses, cutting jobs in Japan and facing stiff competition from low-cost Chinese rivals.

Last month Panasonic abandoned plans to convert a former Japanese TV plant into a module factory – reportedly in part because of the effects of the strong yen on exports.

Panasonic adds to a growing list of world-class PV companies siting production in Malaysia.

US thin-film giant First Solar has six plants operating in Kulim with a total 1.5GW capacity.

Germany’s Bosch announced in June that it will spend €520m ($748m) building its own integrated PV manufacturing plant in Malaysia.

German PV group Q-Cells began producing cells at its new 500MW Malaysian facility in 2009.

Andrew Lee, London

Source: Recharge News

GEORGE TOWN: Panasonic Corp will invest RM1.85bil in its latest solar manufacturing facility in Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP).

The company will be leasing a 60-acre site from KHTP for the facility.

According to sources, Panasonic is now negotiating to finalise the lease payment, which will be a one-time payment, to lease the land for 60 years and an option to renew it for another 39 years.

In KHTP, the rental to lease the land starts from RM23 per sq ft.

Panasonic will start construction of the facility as soon as possible, as it plans for the plant to start operations in December 2012, with an annual production capacity of 300MW.

In an announcement made available at its website, Panasonic announced that it would establish Panasonic Energy Malaysia Sdn Bhd next month to produce solar cells and modules.

Panasonic’s solar manufacturing facility in KHTP will be the second company there after the US-based First Solar, which occupies 160 acres.

First Solar, to date, has invested RM2.9bil in KHTP since 2007, employing 3,400 workers in its six plants.

There are 37 companies providing support services for solar power and semiconductor industries in the country.

Among them is Saint-Gobain Solar (SGS) from France, which has invested RM46mil in KHTP for a glass manufacturing facility to support the solar industry, and is expected to start operations this month.

In the announcement, Panasonic said with environmental awareness increasing globally and the introduction of subsidy systems and feed-in tariff schemes in Japan and other countries, the solar cell market was predicted to grow further.

“Robust demand is expected particularly in the residential sector, the main target of the Panasonic solar modules.

“The new factory in KHTP will not only help Panasonic meet this growing demand, but also strengthen the company’s module’s cost-competitiveness with the vertically-integrated production,” the announcement said.

Source:  thestar

KUALA LUMPUR – Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp is spending ¥45 billion (S$763 million) to build a solar cell facility in Malaysia, positioning for further growth in the sector amid rising global environmental awareness and the introduction of subsidy schemes in Japan and other countries.

The factory, to be located in Kulim Hi-Tech Park in Kedah, will cover more than 700,000 sq ft and create 1,500 jobs. Scheduled to start production next December, it will have an annual output of solar cells that will have a generation capacity of 300 megawatts, Panasonic said yesterday.

The company said it would accelerate its solar business development globally. Robust demand is expected particularly in the residential sector, it said, adding it would sell its solar modules as an individual product as well as part of a system combined with storage batteries.

A person familiar with the matter told Dow Jones last month that Panasonic had decided to cancel a plan to convert a plasma-TV panel plant in western Japan into one that makes solar panels. The change in plan was the latest indication of how Japan’s solar panel makers are struggling as fast-growing Chinese producers muscle into the market while the strong yen makes Japanese exports too expensive.

Panasonic chief financial officer Makoto Uenoyama said last month that the foreign exchange environment remained “very tough” and that it was “extremely difficult to make new business investments in Japan”.

By producing wafers, solar cells and modules at the new factory in Malaysia, “we are further strengthening our cost competitiveness”, Panasonic said yesterday.

When Panasonic acquired a majority stake in Sanyo Electric in 2009, the latter’s strength in energy-efficient technology – particularly solar panels and rechargeable batteries – was cited as one of the reasons for the deal.

But the global market landscape for solar panels has changed dramatically since. Chinese solar-cell makers such as JA Solar and Suntech Power, are now among the world’s biggest producers, helped by Beijing’s support for renewable-energy businesses.

Also yesterday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced a trade-barrier investigation of US subsidies and supporting policies for the renewable energy industry, in a tit-for-tat response to a US probe of alleged dumping by Chinese solar panel makers.

The investigation will cover solar, hydroelectric and wind energy products and equipment. Chinese industry groups requested the probe, alleging that US policies violate obligations under World Trade Organization rules and hurt the competitiveness of Chinese renewable-energy products in the American market, the ministry said. AGENCIES

Source:  todayonline

Panasonic Corp. (6752) will invest 45 billion yen ($582 million) to build a plant for solar cells and modules in Malaysia as the company aims to increase its share in the global market.

The factory will also produce wafers and have a production capacity of 300 megawatts a year, the Osaka, Japan-based electronics maker said today in a statement.

Panasonic aims to sell modules worth 1.6 gigawatts worldwide in the year ending March 2016, Masato Ito, an executive officer, said in Osaka today at a news conference. The company’s previous target was 1.5 gigawatts.

The company picked Malaysia for the new plant to hedge risks of a strong yen and for its reliable infrastructure for power and water, Tetsuhiro Maeda, a senior vice president of Sanyo Electric Co., a unit of Panasonic, said at the conference.

Production will begin in December 2012 and the plant, which will be built in the Kulim Hi-Tech Park in Kedah, northern Malaysia, will employ about 1,500 people.

Source: Bloomberg

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (Bernama) — Panasonic Corporation Friday announced its plan to establish a company in Malaysia that will serve as its new solar manufacturing base.

Panasonic Energy Malaysia Sdn Bhd, to be established next month, will operate a vertically-integrated solar manufacturing facility, producing wafers to cells and modules.

Panasonic said in a statement today that it will invest 45 billion yen (100 yen = RM4.12) in the facility to be located at the Kulim Hi-Tech Park, Kedah.

The factory will start operations in December 2012 with an annual production capacity of 300 MW.

It said with environmental awareness increasing globally and the introduction of subsidy systems and Feed-in Tariff schemes in Japan as well as other countries, the solar cell market is predicted to grow further.

Robust demand is expected particularly in the residential sector, the main target of the Panasonic HIT (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin-layer) solar modules, it added.

The new factory which will have about 1,500 employees, will not only help Panasonic meet this growing demand, but also strengthen the HIT module’s cost-competitiveness with the vertically-integrated production.

Panasonic will sell its solar modules as an individual product as well as part of a system combined with storage batteries.

Further, as part of the comprehensive solutions business, which is built on capacities brought together across its group of companies, Panasonic will accelerate its solar business development globally.

Source:  BERNAMA