SANYO Marks Grand Opening of New Salem Solar Silicon Ingot and Wafer Manufacturing Plant with Ceremony

Factory to Produce 70MW of Silicon Ingots Annually, with Full Production
Starting in April 2010
SALEM, Ore.--(Business Wire)--
SANYONorth America Corporation (SANYO), a subsidiary of and the North American
regional headquarters of SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., based in San Diego, announces
that the newest manufacturing plant for photovoltaic products, SANYO Solar of
Oregon LLC, has officially opened in the Salem Energy and Technology Park, and
production has officially started. The plant, located in Salem, Oregon, will be
producing silicon ingots and wafers, core materials to manufacture SANYO`s
patented HIT (Heterjunction with Intrinsic Thin-layer) solar cells and modules
that have the world`s highest solar light to electric energy conversion
efficiency per installed square foot. While initial production has officially
started, the plant plans to reach its full production capacity of 70-Megawatts
annually by April 2010.

"With increasing awareness of the environment, more attention is focused on
solar power, an area of strength for SANYO, as we are an industry leader with
our HIT solar panels," said Mr. Mitsuru Homma, Executive Vice President and
Member of the Board of SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. "Our plant here in Salem will be
key to making the materials needed to make finished solar modules, which will be
installed to help create a more sustainable LEED system as a part of a home or
business here in the USA and for SANYO customers around the world."

SANYO is augmenting its facilities with the necessary equipment and construction
of new facilities for future growth in response to market demand, moving forward
to reach goals set for an annual global production capacity of at least 600 MW
by FY 2010.

SANYO first started researching and developing amorphous solar cells in 1975 and
was the world`s first to commercialize amorphous-type solar cell production in
1980. In 1997, SANYO started mass production and sales of its world-leading
conversion efficiency HIT solar cells. SANYO currently manufactures a large
portion of silicon ingot and wafers in the US, the solar cells are made in
Japan, with module assembly plants located in Mexico, Hungary and Japan.

For more information on SANYO`s solar products, please visit:
http://us.sanyo.com/Solar.

About SANYO

SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. is a global, multi-billion dollar leading company for
energy and environment. SANYO North America Corporation, a subsidiary of SANYO
Electric, markets and sells energy-and environment-related products in North
America including a variety of commercial and consumer solutions such as
rechargeable batteries, digital imaging devices, biomedical and health-related
equipment, HVAC equipment, home appliances, etc. SANYO Solar of Oregon LLC is a
subsidiary of SANYO North America and produces silicon ingots and wafers, key
ingredients to making HIT solar cells and panels.

For further information on SANYO, please visit http://us.sanyo.com.

SANYO North America Corporation
Aaron Fowles
Corporate Communications
+1-619-661-4151 (office)
AFowles@sna.sanyo.com

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