Wind Energy

KYOCERA Supplies 2MW of Modules for Solar Power Plant in France

Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) announced that is has supplied 8,500 solar modules for a new 2-megawatt (MW) solar power plant which sits over four acres of unused farmland in north-western France. The plant was officially inaugurated on October 21 in Distré, in the French department of Maine-et-Loire. The large-scale installation is a flagship project in terms of sustainability, and the Kyocera solar modules produce an average total power output of 2,200,000-kW/hours per year of environmentally-friendly electricity — equal to the average annual energy consumption of 900 local households. Furthermore, the clean-energy power plant will off-set roughly 700-tons of CO2 per year.

The solar installation is the largest solar power plant in north-western France, and is a pioneer project for future model systems. The renewable energy plant was established as a sustainable solution for the reclamation of unused land, as the space can now be used to make a positive contribution to the environment via clean energy generation.

The solar energy project was realized with an investment by the French company Quénéa Energies Renouvelables — a medium-sized enterprise specializing in the field of renewable energy — and the state-run financial institution Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.

Kyocera has notably shipped modules for large-scale power plants around the world, including more than 50MW for three projects in Spain. The company has also agreed to supply modules for a 204MW project in Thailand, and is currently supplying 13MW to a solar power plant in eastern Japan which is scheduled to begin operation this December. Furthermore, data collected from three of these plants in Spain (Dulcinea: 28.8MW; Salamanca: 13.8MW) and Thailand (Korat: 6MW) show that the company’s modules are exceeding the installers’ own original power output estimates — demonstrating the high performance and reliability of Kyocera’s products.

Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971), the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of fine ceramics (also known as "advanced ceramics"). By combining these engineered materials with metals and plastics, and integrating them with other technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of solar power generating systems, telecommunications equipment, printers, copiers, electronic components, semiconductor packages, cutting tools and industrial ceramics. During the year ended March 31, 2011, the company’s net sales totaled 1.27 trillion yen (approx. USD15.3 billion). The company is ranked #604 on Forbes magazine’s 2011 "Global 2000" listing of the world’s largest publicly traded companies.

http://global.kyocera.com/reliability/