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Kyocera

US Solar Presence Could Double For Kyocera

by Jake Richardson November 9, 2015

Kyocera wants to expand its sales in the United States, and sees opportunities in the residential solar and energy storage markets.

Sales for the company fell recently in Japan, forcing the company to look at expanding into the United States. “There is growing need for energy storage in the US residential market,” said Kyocera president Goro Yamaguchi .

Kyocera has already partnered with the American energy storage company Stem, with the collaboration focused on commercial systems, but Kyocera has also entered the German solar power market to support residential systems. 4.8kWh and 7.2kWh energy storage systems were intended for the German residential market, so it is not unreasonable to wonder if these sizes will be available when Kyocera hits the US market. Just for comparison, the Tesla energy storage systems for homes are 7 Kwh and 10 Kwh, and they are definitely competitively priced.

One report said Kyocera might target 100,000 energy storage systems for the US market, because that is the number it worked with in Japan. One might imagine California would be a good place to start trying to sell home energy systems, because it is a leading solar state.

Kyocera also might bundle solar power and energy storage systems, which would probably be smart — consumers generally like convenience. Having one system to install that would cover all electricity needs would be easier than mixing and matching different systems.

At the same time, Tesla might partner with SolarCity or another American solar power company like SunPower to offer its own bundled system.

Either way, it will be fascinating to see what happens. Even more intriguing is the coming expansion of electric vehicles, and how they will interact with energy storage and solar power systems. For example, if you own all three, you might be able to charge the batteries fully at night when rates are low, and sell electricity back to the grid during peak times during daylight hours. Of course, you could also use your home solar system to charge batteries too. What would a payback period look like then? The environmental aspects of this situation are only one part of the equation.

Image Credit: Kyocera

November 9, 2015 0 comment

Energy Storage

German Battery Maker BMZ Plans To Quadruple Production

by Steve Hanley April 8, 2015

written by Steve Hanley

Battery storage for electricity is predicted to explode in the next 10 years and Germany’s largest battery maker, BMZ, wants to be ready to cash in on the expected boom times. BMZ plans to quadruple production by 2020 and has begun an ambitious €450 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in the city of Karlstein to make that happen.

The expansion will take place in several stages. Once completed in 2020, the new factory will be capable of churning out 80 million lithium-ion batteries a year of various sizes with a total energy storage capacity of 5 gigawatt-hours. Interestingly, that is roughly the same capacity that Tesla expects from the Gigafactory it is building in Nevada, which should begin production in 2016.

Energy storage expert Tobias Rothacher told RenewEconomy recently that BMZ is doing the right thing at the right time. Installations of photovoltaic systems were up 50% in Germany in 2014. “Over 20 per cent of new PV systems under 30 kWh now include batteries,” Rothacher said.

Battery storage systems for grid size installations are up dramatically, having increased more than 20 times in just the last 3 years. According to some observers, it could generate as much as $68 billion in revenue over the next 10 years for companies ready to meet the challenge.

In 2014, BMZ invested more than $150,000,000 into research and development and expects its annual revenue to grow to more than $3 billion by 2020. The new factory will employ an additional 1,500 workers compared to today’s staffing levels.

BMZ won’t have the German market to itself, though. Japanese battery company Kyocera also has its eye on Germany after local utilities sharply reduced the amount of money they are willing to pay residential solar customers for the excess electricity they feed into the grid. The lower that “feed in tariff,” as it is called, the more economic sense it makes for home owners to install a storage battery and save electricity for their own use because every kilowatt they draw from their own storage battery is a kilowatt they don’t have to purchase from the grid.

Many observers think the more utilities try to squeeze residential solar customers by reducing energy purchase prices or adding monthly solar demand charges, the better the business case for home battery storage becomes. BMZ plans to be ready for whatever is next in the industry.

April 8, 2015 0 comment

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Kyocera and Stem Team Up For Commercial Solar Power Solution

by Jake Richardson October 14, 2014

written by Jake Richardson

Solar power news keeps getting better. Stem and Kyocera Solar have joined forces to provide both solar panels and an intelligent energy storage system.

Stem says that up to 50% of an energy bill can be based on peak charges. The company’s advanced battery storage and predictive analytics help customers to avoid buying electricity when it is most costly.The Stem system connects behind the meter to analyze energy usage and make beneficial predictions. It has an onsite battery that is charged with electricity when rates are at their lowest. That stored energy can be released when needed, so customers don’t have to buy during peak demand. Stem says its system can save 20% on energy bills.

Of course, Kyocera is a leading solar power photovoltaic modules and systems manufacturer, so it seems perfectly natural that it would join with an intelligent
energy storage company.

“Intelligent energy storage is a natural fit for PV — and our solution integrates seamlessly with Kyocera’s solar technology to bring new value to the commercial market. Kyocera’s expertise in providing turnkey solutions through its technology partners presents a great opportunity for Stem as we expand our offering to solar customers,” explained Stem CEO John Carrington. Kyocera is the first solar power provider to offer the Stem system. It is now available to businesses in California, Hawaii and New York.

One of Stem’s customers is Alsco, a textile manufacturer with over 16,000 employees. After implementing the Stem system, Alsco began to reduce demand charges by about 8-10% per month. Another customer, Intercontinental Hotels, uses a Stem system to store energy and then release it to power elevators when they are in use during peak demand.

It probably isn’t surprising to anyone that commercial solar power is a huge market. According to SEIA, “As of mid-2013, cumulative commercial deployment totaled 3,380 MW at over 32,800 facilities throughout the country, an increase of more than 40 percent over last year.” We may be hearing about how many homeowners are ‘going solar’ but many businesses are too, and this trend is an important one.

October 14, 2014 0 comment

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Top Solar Module Manufacturers of 2013

by James Ayre May 14, 2014

written by James Ayre

The top 15 solar PV module manufacturers of 2013 have been revealed thanks to a new report from the market research firm IHS.

As many would no doubt guess, the list is dominated — yet again — by firms based in China. But, interestingly, the Japanese firms Sharp and Kyocera saw a bit of a resurgence — up a fair bit from previous years. Japan’s strong feed-in tariffs for solar and Japanese preference for Japan-made products was clearly part of this upswing.

Some other things to note — Yingli Green Energy (aka Yingli Solar) once again took the top spot; 7 out of the top 10 companies were based in China; and the total Chinese share of the market fell 1% to 58% — down from a 59% market share in 2012.

“The year 2013 marked the turnaround of global PV markets and the recovery of leading players in the photovoltaic industry,” stated Jessica Jin, an analyst for solar supply chains at IHS. “Chinese and Japanese PV module suppliers benefited from the surge in demand in their domestic markets, with China in particular accounting for more than a quarter of global installations in 2013 and becoming the leading region in the process.”

IHS provides more:

The Chinese as a group continued to be the star players of the global PV market, but there were also signs pointing to slower growth. While they continue to lead by far, 2013 also marks the second time their overall market share has not risen significantly. Chinese suppliers held a 57% share in 2011, 59% in 2012 and 58% last year.

European companies also maintained stable share in 2013 at 13% — nearly unchanged from 2011 and 2012. In contrast, the Japanese module industry enjoyed an increase to 15%, up from 12% in 2011. Meanwhile, US suppliers fell behind as their portion dropped to 9%, down from 13% in 2011.

While Sharp and Kyocera saw the most substantial rises, a third Japanese firm managed to rank in the top 15 as well, CIS thin-film producer Solar Frontier. Solar Frontier saw shipment growth of more than 60% in 2013.

The IHS report also noted that total global solar PV shipments hit 38.7 GW in 2013 — roughly a 24% increase over the previous year. Interestingly, much of the growth appeared to be from the top players — showing clearly the consolidation of the industry. The top 15 manufacturers held a 59% market share in 2013, up from 51% in 2012.

With regard to the continued consolidation of the solar PV manufacturing industry, that’s something that’s likely going to continue for some time — with the dropping of state-support, in many cases, being one of the main drivers.

That’s exactly what’s happening right now in China, with a recent order by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology doing a lot to “clean up” the industry — likely finishing off over 75% of the country’s solar panel and related component manufacturers.

Expect to see more of that in the near-future. And just note, this isn’t bad — it’s a natural part of a maturing industry.

May 14, 2014 0 comment

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Solar EV Charging Station Installed At Shintec Hozumi Headquarters

by James Ayre April 25, 2014

written by James Ayre

Kyocera Corporation recently announced that it has installed a “Solar Cycle Station, for EVs” at the headquarters of Shintec Hozumi Co, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

The system — which is based on a development plan drawn up by Shintec Hozumi — has been constructed as a sort of backup energy source during times of disaster. The solar-generated power can be utilized in such times to keep highly useful emergency vehicles running, as well as serving as a backup power source for buildings — through the routing of electricity from car batteries into buildings.

Kyocera’s “Solar Cycle Station” was originally created as an environmentally friendly solar-powered recharging station for electric-assisted bicycles way back in 2010. Since then, the company has also begun offering a modified system, designed for use with EVs — the Solar Cycle Station for EVs.

The press release provides more:

With the purpose of protecting the environment and saving electricity costs, Shintec Hozumi installed a 230kW Kyocera solar power generating system on the rooftop of its headquarters to provide clean energy for the building. Furthermore, as part of its Business Continuity Plan, the company adopted Kyocera’s Solar Cycle Station for EV in order to secure backup power for disaster prevention planning. KCCS undertook the design and construction based on this scheme, creating a recharging system which not only supplies solar power to plug-in hybrid vehicles owned by the company, but can also route electricity from the cars’ batteries back to the building when needed during an emergency.

Sounds like a pretty good deal. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see such systems become more common in the coming years.

April 25, 2014 0 comment

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127-Megawatt Utility-Scale Solar Installation Opens In Arizona

by Zach May 7, 2013

written by Zach

A massive, 127-megawatt solar power installation was officially opened in Arizona last week. Block 1 (of 5) of the Arlington Valley Solar Energy II (AV Solar II) utility-scale installation is located in Maricopa County in southwest Arizona on about 1,160 acres of land. The rest of the power plant / solar farm will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2013 — one of the beauties of solar power plants is the speed at which they can go up.

Kyocera, one of the world’s biggest solar module manufacturers, has supplied 25 MW of solar panels for the project.

May 7, 2013 0 comment

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10 Top Solar Module Manufacturers In 2012 (IHS Report)

by Zach April 13, 2013

written by Zach

Market research firm IHS has released a report on the top solar module manufacturers of 2012. Regular readers may think this sounds familiar. If so, it’s probably because you’re remembering the Solarbuzz report on the top solar module manufacturers of 2012 that we reported on in March. For the most part, the IHS report agrees with the Solarbuzz report’s top 10 list. However, there are some differences.

As with Solarbuzz, IHS reports that the top 2 solar module manufacturers of 2012 were Yingli (#1) and First Solar (#2). However, in the Solarbuzz report, Suntech came in at #3, while it came in at #5 in the IHS one. Compared to the Solarbuzz report, Trina Solar climbs from #4 to #3, while Canadian Solar climbs from #5 to #4.

Sharp Solar is #6 on both lists, Jinko Solar is #7, and Hanwha SolarOne is #10. However, Solarbuzz had JA Solar at #8 and SunPower at #9, while IHS has SunPower at #8 and REC Solar at #9.

For the rest of this article, I’ll just delve further into the IHS report.

Solar Power World had a good summary of the key movements in the top 10:

“In a year that proved very challenging for the entire PV industry, Yingli managed to increase its merchant shipment volumes by 43 percent year-over-year to leapfrog Suntech as well as U.S.-based First Solar, the two largest suppliers of 2011. First Solar managed to defend its position as the No. 2 module manufacturer, while Suntech lost significant ground and was displaced to fifth position behind Trina Solar and Canadian Solar. REC, the only Top 10 supplier headquartered in Europe, grew faster than most of its Chinese competitors in 2012. Increasing its module shipments by 31 percent year-over-year to 757 megawatts (MW), REC strengthened its position as a leading player in a highly competitive environment.”

I would think that more of the manufacturers not in the top 10 would have fallen by the wayside in 2012, but according to IHS, the top 10 in 2012 accounted for 40% of market share, while the top 10 in 2011 accounted for 46% of market share. IHS reports that the companies that took market share from the top 10 were other large manufacturers that had scaled up operations despite the global solar module oversupply and diving solar module prices.

Also, Japanese module manufacturers benefited from the solar boom resulting from the country’s aggressive feed-in tariffs, as well as the country’s strong preference for Japanese-made products (especially when it comes to technology).

“Japanese suppliers Solar Frontier and Kyocera expanded output and shipments massively in 2012, and both benefited from the current boom in Japan,” Stefan de Haan, principal analyst for solar at IHS, said. “Solar Frontier climbed from No. 14 in 2011 to 11th place in 2012, while Kyocera rose from No. 17 to No. 12.”

April 13, 2013 3 comments

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Kyocera + VGI Energy = Solar Power For Affordable Multi-Family Housing In Chicago

by Zach March 15, 2013

written by Zach

Kyocera Solar and VGI Energy have teamed up to put solar power on some affordable, multi-family housing units in Chicago.

Credit: VLV Development / VGI Energy Solutions

“VGI’s retrofitted buildings throughout Chicago have been outfitted with 20kW rooftop solar arrays, providing electricity from the clean, renewable energy of the sun and contributing to VGI’s goal of achieving zero-net-energy-capable buildings,” the companies noted in a recent press release.

And this is not the first time the two have teamed up to help more people go solar. “Since 2010, VGI has installed Kyocera solar modules on six Chicago buildings ranging in size from 18 to 70 units, providing more than 600 people with the opportunity to use renewable energy in their daily lives.”

I’m sure you’ve heard of Kyocera, but VGI Energy might be a new name to you — it was to me. VGI is apparently a socially and green-minded company, an arm of VLV Development, that is working hard to improve the lives (and help the pocketbooks) of Chicago’s less affluent. “VGI’s vision is to transform and preserve the current state of affordable multi-family housing in the City of Chicago — breathing new life into buildings with a sharp eye toward sustainability by installing LED lighting, energy-efficient windows, ENERGY STAR® appliances and water-efficient plumbing fixtures,” the press release added.

March 15, 2013 0 comment