Honda's new solar cell subsidiary, Honda Soltec opens for business
Honda Motor Company announced yesterday the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary that will make and sell thin film solar cells. This company, Honda Soltec Co. Ltd., will be housed within Honda's Kumamoto factory in Kikuchi-gun, Japan. Honda started building a solar cell manufacturing plant there in September and the plant should be operational by next fall with a production capacity of 27.5 megawatts a year. You can read the full press release after the jump. Honda is portraying the plant as a way for the clean car company to reduce CO2 emissions not only by limiting what comes out of a tailpipe but also by developing "environmentally-friendly and sustainable energy technologies. Honda will contribute to the effort to prevent global warming through production and sales of a clean energy source which does not use fossil fuels." I hope this means we're a few steps closer to the day when all Honda cars generate supplemental power through next-generation solar cell on the roof.
[Source: Honda]
Honda Establishes Solar Cell Subsidiary Company, Honda Soltec to Make Full-Scale Entry into Solar Cell Business
TOKYO, Japan, December 1, 2006–Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced plans to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary, Honda Soltec Co., Ltd., which will produce and sell the next-generation thin film solar cell independently developed by Honda. The new company will lead Honda to make a full-scale entry into the solar cell business.
The next-generation solar cell to be produced and sold by Honda Soltec was developed by Honda Engineering Co., Ltd., the production engineering subsidiary of Honda. By using thin film made from a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS), Honda's next-generation solar cell achieves a major reduction in the amount of energy consumed during the manufacturing process by approximately 50% compared to what is required to produce conventional crystal silicon solar cells. This makes the new solar cell more environmentally-friendly by reducing the amount of CO2 generated even from the production stage.
At the end of September 2006, Honda began construction of a plant to mass produce solar cells within the current site of Honda's Kumamoto factory, and the new facility will become operational in fall 2007 with an annual capacity of 27.5 megawatts. Prior to the start-up of the new plant, Honda Soltec will begin sales in limited areas in March 2007, of CIGS thin film compound solar cells produced by Honda Engineering. Once mass production begins at the new plant in Kumamoto in fall 2007, Honda Soltec will expand sales throughout Japan.
In addition to its effort to reduce CO2 emissions through development of clean automobile engines, Honda is committed to develop environmentally-friendly and sustainable energy technologies. Honda will contribute to the effort to prevent global warming through production and sales of a clean energy source which does not use fossil fuels.
About Honda Soltec Co., Ltd.
Establishment: December 1, 2006
Headquarters location: 1500 Hirakawa, Ozu-machi, Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto (within the current site of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Kumamoto factory)
Sales office location: Wako, Saitama (plan)
Capital investment: 4 billion yen
Capitalization ratio: 100% Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Representative: President: Akio Kazusa
Employment: Approximately 150 associates (plan)
Business: Production and sale of solar cells
About the New plant:
Lot area: 25,000 square meters (m2)
Facility size: 11,080 square meters (m2)
Investment: Approximately 7 billion yen
Start of operation: Fall 2007 (plan)
Production capacity: Approximately 27.5 megawatts annually
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim Rothgeb 3:24AM (9/30/2008)
Where can I purchase these solar cells? I live in Norfolk VA, USA.
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CM 7:27PM (12/02/2006)
Unless the price drops dramatically, it makes more sense to mount the expensive solar panels at a site where they won't be shaded and will face the sun all day, thereby maximizing power production.
Mounting on cars will mean much less power produced, as they woul rarely face the sun, and would frequently be shaded.
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Mark_H 11:34AM (12/03/2006)
I could be wrong but I don't read anything into this about Honda intending to use these solar panels on their automobiles. My guess is they see this as a way to 'offset' the carbon coming out of the auto tailpipes by using solar cells to generate residential electricity, hence reducing the amount of coal to be burned at your local (or not-so-local) power plant.
And maybe turn a profit at the same time.
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Sebastian 12:09AM (12/04/2006)
@Mark,
you're right. this announcement is solely about Honda making electricity from solar panels for home/business use. But, if they're working with solar, then perhaps they'll discover it makes sense (in a strictly PR or maybe even in a business sense) to add solar panels to the tops of their cars. ZAP! and Agni have tried it:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/11/17/zap-to-show-off-a-solar-electric-car-at-the-san-francisco-intern/
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/11/07/follow-up-on-agnis-hydrogen-biodiesel-solar-electric-car/
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Chris 12:14PM (12/05/2006)
This is fantastic news that will lower the price of PV panels as more manufacturers enter the market. I suspect that Honda could scale up these facilities by an order of magnitude and barely make a dent in the worldwide demand for PV energy.
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Craig Aubrey 1:08PM (2/10/2007)
I am very interested in your product and would like to add solar to my house. Could you give me a time frame in which the product would be offered to the public. In my area, Salt Lake City, UT USA, we get about 300 days of sun, my house has a southern exposure roof. Are you looking for canidates for experamental trials?
Craig Aubrey
P.O. Box 22734
Slc, Ut. USA 84122
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SAGALA 10:37AM (11/27/2007)
Our Company sre core Bussines in Contractor in Indonesia, recently we have order to design and to construction of 4 unit manufacturing plant palm oil in Indonesia, the plant will consumtion eletric energy each 3,5 megawatt/plant, ( 2,5 megawatt for ligthing camp industry and house,, could You give us the Your detail solar panel Which suitable for Our plant,
best regards,-
PT BERINGIN MAS JAYA
JL,Kalibata no 4c, Jakarta Indonesia, (13630)
Phone 62 21 80885464, fax 62 21 80883012,
Mob Phone 62 817894638, email gaptenlu@yahoo.co.id
Mr SAGALA
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Why'rd.com 10:16PM (1/10/2008)
These solar panels used in conjunction with Hondas home hydrogen refueling stations to is the untimate answer to our green house problem. Solar electricity converted to hydrogen to power home and autos with negligible impact on the enviroment. Our company would be very much interested in selling and installing these products. We have a 50,000 sq ft facility in Salt Lake City Utah that would be well suited for a solar hydrogen refueling station.
Mike
Chairman Why'rd
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