On March 3, Kyocera Solar Inc. President Rod Lanthorne and San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders announced that the Japanese solar supply giant would be crafting solar panels at the city’s Kearny Mesa plant beginning in June 2009. The new project is expected to create roughly 75 new jobs for Californians, with a goal of producing 35 megawatts’ worth of panels per year.

Company officials cited three primary reasons for choosing San Diego to undertake this new project. One is to serve the growing demand for San Diego solar and California solar at large. According to Mayor Sanders, San Diego stands ahead of any city in the country when it comes to rooftop solar installations and solar production. In July 2008, the U.S. department of Energy conducted an efficiency study and found that San Diego saves about 50 percent on electricity costs on buildings with photovoltaic (PV) systems in place.

Another is the company is convinced that California is serious about supplying and using solar energy, their confidence spurred by last October’s passing of California Solar Bill SB-32, which doubled feed-in tariffs for large solar facilities from 1.5 megawatts to 3 megawatts.

Finally, manufacturing solar panels within the U.S. Kyocera pitch its product to projects that receive federal stimulus funds. Generally speaking, to receive such funds project developers must source materials that are manufactured in the United States.