Sharp Corp (6753.T), a world leader in solar cell production, announced today that it will introduce next generation thin film solar cells in the U.S. market in August 2009.
With its thin film solar product, Sharp believes it will be better equipped to supply multi-megawatt, large-scale utility projects. The company made the announcement at Solar Power International 2008 conference and said it is already working with prospective U.S. customers in preparation for large-scale deployments.
Sharp plans to increase thin film solar production with the construction of next-generation solar manufacturing facilities. Sharp Corporation has just completed installation of a new 2nd-generation thin-film solar cell production line at its Katsuragi Plant in Nara Prefecture, Japan. The facility produces large-size glass substrates measuring approximately 1,000 x 1,400 mm, equivalent to 2.7 times the area of Sharp’s 1st generation substrates (560 x 925 mm), and will begin volume production this October. The addition of this new line expands production capacity for thin-film solar cells at the Katsuragi Plant to 160 megawatts (MW) annually.
Last year, Sharp began construction on a thin film and LCD manufacturing plant in Sakai City, Osaka. Slated to become operational in March 2010, the Sakai City factory will leverage Sharp’s solar manufacturing success with a similar technology–Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panels–to achieve an initial production capacity of 480 MW. Together with the production capacity of Sharp’s Katsuragi plant, this will boost Sharp’s global thin film solar production to 640 MW; future expansion will bring the capacity at Sakai to 1 gigawatt (GW), the company said.
Thin film modules are manufactured with less than 1% of the silicon used for crystalline solar cells, allowing for simpler manufacturing and lower production costs. To optimize conversion of different parts of the solar spectrum, thin films can be layered on top of each other to create a more efficient multi-junction product.
Photovoltaic modules fabricated using the 2nd-generation tandem-junction thin-film solar cells manufactured on Sharp’s new production line at its Katsuragi plant feature an industry-leading 9% module conversion efficiency and high 128 W power output. It is these modules that will make up the initial offering from Sharp in 2009.
About Sharp Solar
Sharp Electronics Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, Osaka, Japan, a world-leading provider of crystalline solar PV for residential, commercial, industrial, off-grid and satellite applications for almost 50 years. Last year, Sharp became the first manufacturer to reach 2 GW of cumulative solar cell production–one-quarter of the world’s total production–since it began mass production of solar cells in 1963.
Sharp entered the U.S. solar market in 2002 and is currently the market leader. Sharp has maintained solar module operations at its 100 MW manufacturing facility in Memphis, TN since 2003, celebrating the assembly of the one-millionth solar module in February 2008.
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