PanOrient News | Sanyo Sees Strong Demand for Rechargeable Batteries and Photovoltaic Cells

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Sanyo Sees Strong Demand for Rechargeable Batteries and Photovoltaic Cells

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

By Roger Schreffler

Tokyo- (PanOrient News) Sanyo Electric Co., which in late December became a wholly owned subsidiary of electronics giant Panasonic Corp., is projecting nearly threefold growth in global demand for rechargeable batteries and photovoltaic cells over the next 10 years.

Sanyo is the Japanese leader in rechargeable batteries including both nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion types (mostly for notebook computers and cell phones) and ranks third in photovoltaic cells behind Sharp Corp. and Kyocera Corp. Sanyo has achieved a conversion efficiency of 19.7%

According to Sanyo's forecast, demand for rechargeable batteries will grow to $61 billion (5 trillion yen) in 2020, up from an estimated $18 billion (1.5 trillion yen) in 2010. Most growth will be seen in two emerging segments – batteries for environmentally friendly vehicles and large-scale power systems. There, the company forecasts sales of $18.2 billion (1.5 trillion yen) and $24 billion (2 trillion yen), up from less than $3 billion (250 billion yen) today.

In the photovoltaic cell market, Sanyo predicts that global sales will grow from an estimated $18 billion (1.5 trillion yen) in 2010 to $61 billion (5 trillion yen) in 2020.

Sanyo executives report that solar and wind turbine energy are projected to account for 15-20% of European electric power generation in 2013. Noting that so-called “end-users” will fluctuate, they believe there must be some sort of “buffer” to equalize consumption and generation and these buffers will be large-scale battery storage systems, which currently are 5-10 megawatts in scale. By 2015, they estimate these systems will increase to 4-5 gigawatts.

In the automotive battery field, Sanyo currently supplies nickel metal-hydride batteries for hybrid cars to Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG and is co-developing a unit with PSA Peugeot Citroen S.A. Sanyo reportedly will supply lithium batteries to Volkswagen, Suzuki Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp.

The supplier, which opened a $158 million (13 billion yen) lithium battery plant in July, hopes to win 30-40% of 2020 of lithium battery demand for hybrid and pure electric cars in 2020. The share target does not include any business Panasonic might secure separately.

Initial capacity at the plant situated in Kosai, Hyogo Prefecture, is 1 million cells per month. By 2016, management hopes to boost monthly capacity to 10 million cells.

The Moriguchi-based manufacturer believes that plug-in hybrids – cars like the Toyota Plug-In Prius and General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Volt – will account for between 50% and 55% of demand for environmentally friendly vehicles (namely, hybrids and EVs) in 2020. Conventional hybrids will fall from their current 95% level to 40-45%, while EVs will reach only 1-2%.

Management warns that infrastructure is still not ready and that it will take time to set up a network of quick-charging stations and introduce standards for such systems.

Roger Schreffler is a veteran business journalist who has covered the Japanese energy scene for more than twenty years.

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