Sharp Solar

Among the world’s largest contemporary producers of photovoltaic (PV) systems, Sharp Solar has been producing innovative solar products since the first Sharp solar cells began development in the late 1950s. Less than a decade years later, Sharp solar modules were being launched into space on NASA craft.

The very same technology that powered spacecraft was being used to power personal calculators since 1980s. In the mid-1990s the company introduced the very first multi-crystal silicon panels that have since become the industry standard in reliability and efficiency.

Part of the larger Sharp corporation, Sharp Solar was founded as a mechanical pencil company (hence the name) in 1913. Today, Sharp solar power operations benefit from a large corporate base to expand from without having to wait for the solar division to become strictly profitable before investing more in the infrastructure. As a result, sharp solar panels were ready to go when Japanese subsidies of residential power made demand for the technology take off overnight.

Since 2003, the company has focused on US residential markets, seeing great potential in the hundred million or so, relatively affluent homeowners. Add to that, an executive pledge to fund research and subsidies for solar on the federal level, and the US market looks ripe for the Sharp Electronics solar division. Very recently the company opened up a “clean” manufacturing facility in Tennessee to help supply the burgeoning North American appetite for the sharp solar panel.

One very popular innovation that is of particular interest to new home construction and remodelling in North America is the use of the sharp solar tube that allows light to penetrate into any room of the house, from the bright light on the roof through the namesake fibre-optic tube.

Among solar panel applications, residential customers in Japan, the EU and the US often find themselves choosing between the 165-watt (W) polycrystalline Sharp solar panel or Sharp’s newer 208W (@ 18V) solar panels. Among the most powerful that are commercially available, these are often sold in packages for a discount.

A recent innovation in the US market is the solar racking system from sharp that combines all the associated electronics for stand alone or grid tie systems in a single rack-mounted unit like any other appliance.

While Japan and Europe still account for the vast majority of Sharp solar power modules sold, all markets are exhibiting exponential growth and should continue to do so for many years to come. As such, Sharp’s commitment to clean, environmentally friendly manufacturing techniques set the tone for sustainable manufacturing development.