Hitachi Cable Starts Photovoltaic Wire Production in Malaysia

Hitachi Cable announced on Tuesday the firm starts production of photovoltaic wire (solder-plated rectangular copper wire) in Malaysia. The wire connects solar cells and collects generated electric power. Hitachi Cable newly introduced productive facilities for photovoltaic wire in its Malaysian subsidiary, Hitachi Cable (Johor), to start commercial operation in August. The capital expenditure is about 500 million yen. Hitachi Cable (Johor) becomes the third productive base of photovoltaic wire and supplies the product mainly to Southeast Asian market.

Hitachi Cable now produces photovoltaic wire in Ibaraki, Japan and Suzhou, China. The consolidated sales of wiring materials for solar cells, mainly photovoltaic wire, totaled approximately 4 billion yen in fiscal 2009 ended in March 2010. The firm aims to expand the sales to 9 billion yen in fiscal 2012 by establishment of effective production network, development of new items and expansion of output capacities.

Hitachi Cable’s sales share of photovoltaic wire is estimated at 70% in domestic market and 20% in global market.