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Kyocera will begin construction of a new crystalline-silicon solar PV module manufacturing plant in Tianjin City, China, in April. The facility will help boost production capacity from 60 MW to 240 MW at Kyocera Tianjin Solar by 2011.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new plant was held on the site adjacent to the current facility on February 18.

The company said the timing of the construction of the new plant, which will manufacture modules mainly for the Asian market, is timed to align the production capacity of solar modules with the increase in production of solar cells, which Kyocera plans to expand to 650 MW by March 2012.

The new factory is scheduled for completion in spring 2010. On completion of the plant, all Kyocera Tianjin Solar manufacturing operations will be transferred to the new facility.

The company completed expansion and upgrading of its Tijuana, Mexico, module-making plant last year; the factory is targeted to reach a capacity of 150 MW by 2011. Kyocera also recently announced plans to build a major solar-cell fab in Yuso City, Shiga, Japan.