Mitsubishi Electric has said that it has completed construction of PV Cell Plant #2, a 50MW solar cell production facility at its Nakatsugawa Works Iida Factory in Nagano Prefecture. When ramped in 2011, the new plant will give Mitsubishi an annual capacity of 270MW. The company noted that the new facility will also produce monocrystalline-silicon cells and start production by March 2011.
Having reached a 19.3% conversion efficiency on 150mm x 150mm polycrystalline cells in the lab, the company also plans to develop highly efficient monocrystalline-silicon PV cells. Mitsubishi Electric intends to incorporate these cells in its future PV modules.
In an effort to respond mainly to the large increase in demand for PV inverters for residential use in the Japanese market, Mitsubishi Electric will also raise monthly PV inverter production capacity at its Nakatsugawa Works by 50%, from 4000 units to 6000 units, in May 2010.