Japan Fuel Cell Market to Jump 36-Fold in 9 Yrs

Tokyo, July 3 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s fuel cell market is expected to jump 36-fold from 6.2 billion yen in fiscal 2007 to 223 billion yen in fiscal 2016, market research firm Fuji Keizai Co. said Thursday.

Annual sales of electricity storage systems, including lithium- ion batteries for vehicles, should rise from 327.4 billion yen to 383.3 billion yen, the company said.

Meanwhile, it estimates sales of solar cells will decrease 23.2 pct to 114.3 billion yen. The sales volume is expected to level off, though prices are likely to fall.

The lower prices will be achieved as production costs are likely to fall on an increase in volume production and expected development of technologies to reduce the use of silicon, prices of which are soaring, in solar cells, Fuji Keizai said.END

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