SAN DIEGO -- Kyocera will begin making solar panels in San Diego this summer, the company announced Wednesday.

The panels will be assembled at the Japanese conglomerate's Kearny Mesa plant, with the initial goal of producing units capable of producing 30 megawatts per year, company officials said.

"We selected this venue to serve the U.S. market's growing demand for large-scale, solar electric generating systems, led by California," said Steve Hill, president of Kyocera Solar, which is based in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Hill said production will begin in June and create about 75 jobs in San Diego.

Kyocera executives were joined by San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, officials from San Diego Gas & Electric and representatives from the California Center for Sustainable Energy at a news conference to announce the company's expansion plans.

Sanders said the city pushed hard for Kyocera to put the plant in San Diego.

"There are a lot of other cities today that wish they were standing up here saying the exact same thing we are," Sanders said.

Kyocera's manufacturing facility will be the only one in the United States. The company already has plants in Japan, China, the Czech Republic and in Tijuana.

The company plans to expand to produce enough solar cells at its facilities worldwide to generate 1,000 megawatts of energy per year by 2013.