Japan

While much of this decline is due to lower system costs, it was a difficult year for the solar industry despite a 20% growth in installation capacity.

The collaboration between the two companies is moving beyond Panasonic running the Tesla/SolarCity gigafactory, and will enable Panasonic to re-open a factory in Japan.

The Japanese corporation reaches agreement to indirectly take a near majority ownership in the firm, which specializes in community and commercial solar installations.