The Japanese energy and technology company Showa Shell Sekiyu began to invest in the research and development of solar energy technology as early as the 1970´s. Several decades later, their subsidiary Solar Frontier has emerged with the primary goal of creating an economical and environmentally friendly way to produce solar electricity. With their new production site in Miyazaki, Japan, Solar Frontier has expanded their thin-film module manufacturing capacity to over 900 megawatts per year. They have unified the entire production and assembly process under one roof to become the world’s largest manufacturer of CIS thin-film modules.