The Japanese car giant Honda has just announced what you might call an exciting holiday bonus for clean-energy fans: It has plans to mass-produce solar panels starting in 2007, becoming the first automaker to jump into the renewables industry. Honda plans to generate up to $70 million in annual sales on thin film solar cell, providing yet more evidence of the profit potential of this technology while helping to drive down its cost.

The factory will produce roughly 28 megawatts of solar—enough to provide juice for about 8,000 homes. Honda is also experimenting with a project that manufactures pure hydrogen – thought by many to be the emissions-free fuel of the future – from sunlight. The solar industry is already largely dominated by Japanese manufacturers, including Kyocera, Sharp and Mitsubishi. For excellent, up-to-the-minute information on the solar industry, visit Cleanedge.com.

Photo credit: Honda