ASiAn invASion wElcomEd - ProMéxico

28 Negocios photo courtesy of kyocera/q-cells/archive
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In Mexico, solar energy has started to win
supporters. The country has some clear advantages:
in most of its territory, solar radiation
levels favor the installation of photovoltaic energy
plants. But not only that, its infrastructure,
proximity to the North American market and
availability of qualified workers make Mexico
attractive to companies that manufacture
products and equipment that generate electricity
through solar energy. In the northern
part of the country, companies that are leading
the research and development of solar energy
technology have found a strategic point for the
expansion of their operations.
Home for the big firms
Due to the growth of the US market, Mexico
has become an important location for manufacturers
of photovoltaic cells.
In mid- 2008, German company Q-Cells
announced it would invest 3.5 billion usd over
the next five years to open a plant in Mexicali,
Baja California (along the US-Mexico border)
to produce photovoltaic cells mainly for the
North American market.
Q-Cells’ investment will create around
4,000 direct jobs and another 4,000 indirect
ones. It will also give the company access to
the growing California area market, like the
Mexicali valley and north of Sonora, where
high temperatures require the use of large
amounts of energy for refrigeration systems
but which also represent potential sources of
solar energy.
Leo van der Holst, vice president of Q-Cells,
explained his company decided to build the
plant –to be the largest of its kind in the world–
in Mexico because its location will permit direct
access not only to the US market but also
to the growing ones in Latin America.
Q-Cells is the world’s most important
manufacturer of solar cells, even supplying
independent units to other manufacturers
in strategic markets. The company also
researches and develops new technologies
with a team of more than 100 technologists,
scientists and engineers. It collaborates with
universities and institutes like the Hahn Meitner
Institute, the Energy Research Centre of
the Netherlands, the Fraunhofer Institute for
Solar Energy Systems, Constanza University
and the Solar Hemeln Research Institute. The
projects being developed are destined to increase
the efficiency of cell performance.
Another solar cell producer that has established
itself in Mexico is the Japanese
company Kyocera. With an investment of 33
million usd, it opened a production plant in
the city of Tijuana in Baja California, creating
600 direct jobs. With this investment, the
company is looking to increase its production
capacity from 35 megawatts to 150 megawatts,
meaning its annual production of solar
panels will go from 175,000 to 750,000.
Kyocera is dedicated to the production of
electronic components and devices and it has
189 distribution companies in Asia, Europe,
Oceania and the Americas. Last year the company’s
sales reached 12.1 billion usd. Since 1975,
Kyocera has created autonomous energy systems
for schools and hospitals and it continues
with its mission of supplying alternative energies
and reducing the use of fossil fuels as part
of its effort to contribute to the planet’s wellbeing.
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