Kyocera Solar - Kyoto's Tech Edge

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OSAKA KOBE 000102 SENSITIVE SIPDIS COMMERCE FOR ITA BRICKMAN AND SANTILLO DOE FOR PI BISCONTI AND EE CHALK AND KIMBIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: BEXP EINV ENRG ECON JA SUBJECT: Kyocera Solar - Kyoto's Tech Edge REF: TOKYO 596 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Kyocera, manufacturer of solar panels with among the highest efficiency for converting sunlight into electricity, believes that new incentives for solar power by the Japanese government will boost the company's domestic sales. Until recently, Kyocera has focused on installing its solar products in commercial settings, factories and buildings, but the company recently entered an agreement with Japanese retailing giant Aeon (including Aeon's consumer financing capacity) as a means to increase sales of its panels to individual Japanese households. Still reliant on the European market for most of its solar sales overseas, the expected increase in Japanese domestic sales and the ever-present hope for growth of markets in China may keep Kyocera's attention focused on sales closer to home. With high expectations for the New Green Deal in America and with European solar growth slowing, however, Kyocera is also considering ramping up production and jobs in North America, with its operations in San Diego, Scottsdale and solar panel manufacturing in Tijuana playing major roles. -------------- Background: Kyocera Solar Division -------------- ¶2. (U) Founded in Kyoto in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and seven colleagues as a start-up venture to produce cutting-edge ceramics, today Kyocera Corporation manufactures and sells innovative, high-quality products based on advanced materials. In 1969, the company established its first North American sales office, a two- person operation serving Silicon Valley's semiconductor industry. Kyocera now has more than 5,000 employees in United States, Canada and Mexico engaged in the manufacture and sale of its high-technology products. ¶3. (U) Kyocera first began working on solar cells in 1975 as part of Japan Solar Energy Corporation (JSEC),a joint venture among Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic),Sharp Corporation, Mobile Oil Corporation and Tyco Laboratories. Kyocera's head of International Sales, Hiroshi Yagi told us that in those early years, the solar industry proved to be unprofitable and only Kyocera and Sharp continued research on solar cell technology. Kyocera began investing heavily in solar technology only after 1993 when the Japanese government promised continuous subsidies for ten years under the New Sunshine Project to encourage the adoption of solar cell technology in commercial and residential settings. Yagi told us that the GOJ's promise of continuous subsidies for ten years provided Kyocera with enough business certainty to renew investments. -------------- --- New Green Deal: Expansion from Europe to the U.S. -------------- --- ¶4. (SBU) In recent years as Japan (Reftel) and other countries have adopted Germany's feed-in-tariff model and similar enhanced enticements for the adoption of solar technologies, Kyocera's thirty plus years of experience in solar has begun to pay off, said Yagi. Kyocera has big expectations for America's New Green Deal, he added, and the company believes its strong technology, high quality and complete vertical integrated solar production from casting silicon ingot to engineering and solar module installation differentiates Kyocera from most of its competitors, and the company's comparatively stronger financial position differentiates it from equally experienced competitors like Sharp. ¶5. (SBU) Kyocera's main overseas solar market is still Europe where it sells fifty percent of its solar panels, said Yagi. The company's solar headquarters in North America is located in Scottsdale, Arizona. U.S. sales OSAKA KOBE 00000102 002 OF 003 account for only 25 percent of Kyocera's global solar sales, with most, 75 percent, coming from operations in California. As with its 1993 decision to renew investing heavily in solar only after the introduction of Japanese government subsidies, Kyocera has focused on the California market, said Yagi, because of the California Solar Initiative subsidy. Under California's solar initiative subsidy, it takes purchasers only 10 to 12 years to recoup investment costs of solar electricity systems, and Kyocera has been active in California's commercial Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) market in which solar panels are placed on the roof of commercial business and the business, in turn, pays a fixed rate for the electricity generated for a set period of time. ¶6. (SBU) Anticipating a rapid rise in demand under the new domestic solar power incentives from the Japanese government and the New Green Deal in the United States, Kyocera is accelerating investments to increase capacity. In conjunction with the phased increase of annual solar cell production to 1 gigawatt (GW) by 2012 from the current 400 megawatts (MW) by expanding its polycrystalline silicone solar cell production to 500 MW annually at each of its Yokaichi and Yasu, Shiga Prefecture production sites, Kyocera is also building additional panel assembly capacity to increase annual capacity to 250 MW at each of its panel assembly plants in Mie Prefecture, the Czech Republic, Tijuana, Mexico and Tianjin, China. -------------- --- Prius Solar Panel Moonroof - Gimmick but Quality -------------- --- ¶7. (SBU) Kyocera manufactures the polycrystalline silicon solar cells used for the USD 2000 solar panel sunroof option for the new Prius, which Toyota Motor Corp announced in May 2009. The electricity generated by the solar cells directly drives the vehicle's ventilation fan, even when the vehicle is parked. Originally, the solar panel system was designed to recharge the vehicle's batteries, but Toyota gave up on the idea because repeated charging and discharging caused deterioration of the batteries. ¶8. (SBU) Even though the Toyota solar panel moonroof is something of a gimmick, admitted Yagi, Toyota's specifications were quite demanding and the selection of Kyocera indicates the high quality of Kyocera's solar products. For example, when Toyota tested the new Prius on uneven roads, which vibrated the car, the solar cells did not crack, detach or otherwise lose functionality. -------------- Product Differentiation, Future U.S. Plans -------------- ¶9. (SBU) As the Prius solar moonroof project suggests, Kyocera believes its competitive advantage in solar is in high-end quality, not quantity, in part as a result of its ability to finance research and development to create cutting edge products. Our solar products will last for 20 plus years, Yagi told us. Kyocera, he added, uses its highly developed computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools and analysis to shorten the engineering process, and Kyocera's completely integrated production and strength in pure casting of silicon ingots keeps its solar cells among the highest conversion efficiency rated cells in production. ¶10. (SBU) When Japan temporarily ended solar subsidies support three to five years ago, it took ten years to recoup the cost of a Kyocera solar panel system, said Yagi. By way of comparison, in Germany under the feed- in-tariff, overall costs are recovered after only six years. In Arizona, at least one utility company offers a 30-40 percent subsidy which allows recovery of costs in OSAKA KOBE 00000102 003 OF 003 5-6 years. Kyocera's goal is to achieve a cost level in Japan which reduces to ten years, from the current fourteen, the period of time it takes for purchasers of its products to recover the costs without any subsidies. ¶11. (SBU) While Kyocera is interested in participating in R&D projects to create a Smart Grid in the United States, to invest more broadly throughout the United States beyond California and the Southwest, the company wants greater business certainty, said Yagi. Kyocera is waiting to see a nationwide feed-in-tariff or long-term commitment to a renewable energy portfolio standard. -------------- China Market Not a Focus - Needs FIT -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Despite many years of discussions, China has not yet implemented a feed-in-tariff, but Kyocera would like to see a FIT implemented in China, said Yagi. The Chinese government seems to prefer a direct subsidy to Chinese companies, but this will not likely work because China has too many solar companies, so it will be very difficult to both fairly and beneficially distribute limited subsidies. Without a FIT, most Chinese consumers will not be able afford Kyocera's solar technology. Kyocera believes that for the foreseeable future, China will remain focused on coal for power production, Yagi told us. DONG