Sharp Corp. announced that it will increase annual production capacity for solar cells at its Katsuragi Plant in Nara Prefecture by 110MW starting in March, 2007.
Sharp also announced that it is opening the Toyama site (in Toyama Prefecture, Japan) for the Solar Systems Group and is starting to produce silicon for solar cells. As a result, annual solar cell production capacity at the Katsuragi Plant will reach 710MW per year, which the company claims is the world’s highest. The investment, valued at 3 billion yen, is expected to help Sharp meet the expanding demand for solar cells in Japan and abroad.
Sharp has been promoting the efficient use of silicon raw material by reducing the thickness of its solar cells and by improving the yield of cells and modules while striving to develop new technologies for silicon material-recycling of mill ends and for refining impurities efficiently.
