Sharp Starts Up New Thin Film Plant.

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Sharp Solar says that it has started operations at its new thin-film solar cell plant in Sakai City, Osaka, Prefecture, Japan this week. The plant will have 160 MW production capacity during its initial phase; capacity will eventually reach a gigawatt of solar modules each year.

Sharp is now the second-largest producer of such cells and modules, second to thin-film juggernaut First Solar.

The Sakai manufacturing plant is producing thin-film solar cells and modules using large-size glass substrates measuring 1,000 x 1,400 mm. That is one percent of the silicon used for crystalline solar cells. This enables lower raw materials costs, simpler manufacturing processes thereby lowering production costs.

To optimize electricity harvest from different parts of the solar spectrum, thin films can be layered on top of each other to create a more efficient multi-junction product. Sharp s has the flexibility to produce cells with two or three layers, depending on customer needs.

The worldwide demand for thin-film solar cells, especially for use in large-scale photovoltaic power generation, has been steadily increasing. In a recent report on the thin film market, GTM Research predicts that thin-film will represent 10 GW of capacity by 2012. Sharp is now delivering modules worldwide for multi-megawatt, large-scale utility projects that are best served by a thin-film solar solution.

Sharp is now the second-largest producer of such cells and modules, second to thin-film juggernaut First Solar. The thin-film solar cell plant in Sakai will serve as a model plant for future Sharp thin-film solar cell plants around the world.

Copyright : Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd.

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