Kyocera chief upbeat on prospects for solar power

[jpak]

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20090115TDY08307.htm

OSAKA--The following are excerpts of an interview The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted with Kyocera Corp. President Makoto Kawamura, in which he discussed the expanding solar power industry, the firm's outlook for the year ahead and other issues.

The key word for this year is environment. The solar cell business is delivering strong results.

We're going to produce solar cells with a capacity of 650 megawatts by the end of March 2012, up from our capacity target of 300 megawatts for the end of this fiscal year. We'd like to further boost production if there's a chance to do so.

The business is buoyant, because the government has brought back a subsidy for residential-use solar cells, and also because U.S. President-elect Barack Obama favors the introduction of solar energy.

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