16th Nov - Sharp, Sanyo Introducing Cutting-Edge Solar Cells

Sharp Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co. plan to release new solar cells with a higher efficiency than those now on the market, it has been learned.

By the end of the year, Sharp is expected to spend as much as 10 billion yen on its Sakai plant in Osaka Prefecture to build new production lines with a total production capacity of 200,000kw annually. That would increase the firm's total capacity to 1.07 million kilowatts.

Silicon crystals are used in the photovoltaic solar cells. The electrodes, which generate the electricity, are attached to the back of cells rather than their surface. This increases the area of the cells that absorb sunlight and boosts generating efficiency by one-fifth over conventional cells to more than 20%.

Sanyo, meanwhile, is scheduled to release a new solar cell in February that is expected to have the world's highest efficiency. The new product is a HIT (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin-layer) cell composed of thin-film silicon laid atop silicon crystal. The new technology reduces energy loss when electricity passes through cells by smoothing out the area where the film and crystal meet. The cells boast a power generation efficiency of 21.6%, half a percentage point higher than the company's current top-performing cells. The new product will put Sanyo back on top in the efficiency race for the first time in six years, beating U.S. firm SunPower Corp.'s product, at 21.4%.

Sanyo's new solar cell will be made by subsidiary Shimane Sanyo Electric Co. and Sanyo's Nishikinohama plant in Kaizuka, Osaka. Early next year, Sanyo will set up a new production line at its plant in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture.

In fiscal 2011, the company aims to sell new-model solar cells with a total generating capacity of about 55,000kw, bringing its total for the solar cell business to some 600,000kw annually.

In fiscal 2013, it hopes to start making solar cells with a power generation efficiency of 23% at a plasma panel display plant in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture that is owned by parent company Panasonic Corp.