Sharp Invests in Film Plant

Sharp Corp. said it has invested 72 billion yen (about $725 million) to build a thin-film silicon solar cell plant in Sakai City, Osaka, where it will produce 1000 x 1400-mm glass substrates developed jointly with Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL).

The Sakai plant will be capable of boosting annual production to a scale of 1 GW per year, Sharp said in a statement. Production will begin by March 2010, with a 480-MW initial production capacity for solar cells. Combined with the 160-MW capacity of its plant in Katsuragi (Nara Prefecture), the new plant will expand its production capacity for thin-film solar cells to 1 GW by April 2010, the company added.

TEL's agreement with Sharp, announced in February, establishes a joint venture -- Tokyo Electron PV Ltd., based in Nirasaki City -- to commercialize plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) systems for thin-film silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells. The systems will be developed by combining TEL’s vacuum plasma expertise for semiconductor and FPD production equipment businesses with Sharp's thin-film silicon PV cell production technology, TEL said.

The equipment to be developed by the joint venture is being financed by TEL (50 million yen -- about $ 503,250) and Sharp. TEL will conduct manufacturing and sales of the equipment.

In February, Sharp and Sony Corp. announced a joint venture to produce and sell large-sized LCD panels and modules using an LCD panel plant Sharp is building at the Sakai City site. (See also: www.photonics.com/content/news/2008/February/26/90751.aspx)

For more information, visit: www.sharp.co.jp