Asia will produce over 80% of all crystalline silicon solar cells by 2012, according to Greentech Media Research. As of last year, Asia manufactured just over 70% of all solar cells on the planet.

With continued and increased assistance from government programs and lower labor costs, Asia will expand their production and hopes to become the global leader in this increasingly important and relevant technology. Most international solar cell makers are looking for ways to keep costs low so they can get solar power work out to be of the same input and output value as traditional sources of energy. Inexpensive labor is one of the simplest ways to keep costs relatively low.

China, Taiwan and Japan are on their way to being the world leaders in solar cell production, producing 44% of all solar cells by 2012, which is the equivalent of 12 MW of power.