Sharp Corp, the world’s second- largest maker of solar batteries, intends to increase its capacity to produce thin-film solar cells six-fold to meet energy demand in Europe, India and the US.
The company will raise the capacity to 6 gigawatts as early as 2014, from 1 gigawatt estimated for 2010, Toshishige Hamano, a vice president in charge of Osaka-based Sharp’s solar-battery division, told reporters yesterday at its factory in Nara Prefecture, Japan.
Sharp, which lost its market-leading position to Thalheim, Germany-based Q-Cells AG last year, is focusing on expanding its solar-cell output through thin-film technology. This uses 1 percent of the amount of silicon needed for conventional models.
“Thin-film solar batteries will be more popular than conventional types because of lower production cost,” Hamano said.
Sharp is aiming for a 50 percent share of the thin-film solar cell market by 2012, Hamano said, without providing a comparative figure.
The company yesterday started shipping solar cells from the Nara plant, which has capacity of 160 megawatts a year using thin-film technology.
It is spending ¥72 billion (US$679 million) to build another thin-film solar battery plant in Osaka, which will have capacity of 480 megawatts.
Separately, The 2008 Taiwan International Photovoltaic Forum will begin next Tuesday at the Taipei International Convention Center, with several top executives from prominent companies in the field invited to deliver keynote speeches, organizers said yesterday.
Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) officials said three main topics were selected for this year, including “the current status of and trends in the global photovoltaic industry,” ”the current status of and trends in the global photovoltaic market” and “solar-grade silicon.”
Foreign speakers include Muramatsu Tetsurou, general manager of Sharp’s solar systems group, Erik Thorsen, president and CEO of REC Group, Ernesto Macias Galan, general manager of Isofoton and president of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, and Lei Ting, vice president of Suntech Power Holdings Co (尚德).
Several executives from local companies such as Auria Solar Co (宇通), Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶), Lucky Power Technology (奈米龍) and Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (中美矽晶) have also been invited.
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
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