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Q-Cells and the Silicon Border group's announcement that the solar cell manufacturer plans to invest up to $3.5 billion to build a thin-film production complex in the technology industrial park near Mexicali, Mexico, may have garnered alot of attention, but let's not forget another company which has had a significant presence in Baja California for several years: Kyocera Solar and its large module assembly operation in nearby Tijuana. The Japanese company's Kyocera Mexicana maquiladora has been fabbing modules since late 2004 and broke ground on a facility expansion June 6, 2007--almost exactly a year from the timing of the Q-Cells news last week.

After a week or so of trying to get some fresh info from the Kyocera team, Tom Dyer, the solar unit's senior VP of marketing and government affairs, replied via email earlier today. Although he couldn't answer several questions for confidentiality reasons, Dyer did provide an update on the Tijuana site and other tidbits.


San Diego's Solar Grove sports 235 KW of Kyocera modules.
(Photo courtesy: Kyocera Solar)

Construction on the second northwest Mexican module-manufacturing facility, a two-story, 223,000 square-foot-building with a 28,000 square foot extension to the original plant, "was to be completed by March 2008, with manufacturing to begin in April," he said. "The first module was produced in the first week of April and the new line has been operating since." When it's completed, the site "will be one of the largest [module manufacturing facilities in Mexico], but [we] cannot confirm with certainty that it will be the largest."

Dyer would not divulge the number of modules produced, or the factory's current output and capacity, but the company has said it plans to reach 150 MW by the end of March 2011, as part of its global strategy to reach 500 MW in module capacity at its four global manufacturing sites by that time. He reiterated that the "first line [has been] up and running [since] April," adding that the plant "is expanding to its full capacity." The new production lines are more automated than those in the original 35-MW factory, according to Dyer, with "less handling between manufacturing processes."

The number of employees at the Tijuana facilities, let alone the shift schedule, remain "confidential," as is the timeline for ramping to that goal of 150 MW capacity. Dyer said the number of employees to be added during the expansion is "undetermined. As the technology changes, the number of employees needed changes." He said the first phase of the project represents a $33-million investment, although the "cost of the future expansion is not available for release at this time."

The company manufactures four KD module models there, featuring its d.Blue multicrystalline-silicon solar cells and ranging in power from 130 to 205 watts. Conversion efficiencies of 16% are touted on the company's Website. Whether the modules coming out of Tijuana will eventually include the new 180-micron-thick cells announced by Kyocera this week has not been confirmed, although the company says the high-efficiency design will be in mass production by March 2010.

The Mexican modules are made with Kyocera's North American and Australian market demands in mind. Dyer confirmed that the units manufactured for Akeena Solar with the Andalay brand are fabricated in Tijuana. The factory has produced tens of thousands of panels that are installed in megawatts' worth of projects just across the border in San Diego as well as throughout the rest of Southern California and the US.

Dyer cited examples such as a local Qualcomm campus (417 KW), the new San Diego Children's Museum (56.4 KW), the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park (100 KW), and the Alvarado Municipal Water District (1.135 MW and growing). Kyocera modules will also populate one of the most ambitious retail solar installations in the country--Kohl's department stores' plan to equip 63 of its 80 California locations with up to 25 MW of PV power.

Kyocera's solar minions will have reason to celebrate next week, when one of the company's high-profile installations will be a back story to one of the biggest sporting events on the planet. No, it's not the NBA finals, but the UEFA Euro 2008 futbol competition, beginning this weekend in host countries Austria and Switzerland. Monday's match between perennial powers Italy and the Netherlands will kick off at the Stade de Suisse in Bern, which has nearly 8000 modules (likely made in the company's Czech Republic plant--sorry, Mexico) with an installed output of 1.346 MW, making it the largest stadium-integrated PV system on record.

The way defense-minded Italy plays, that megawattage number might equal a little more than the total number of goals that the blue-jerseyed World Cup champs score in the game.