Japan to See Largest Solar Film Factory in the World

Japan’s Sharp Corp. will spend approximately $883 million to build the world’s largest solar cell factory. The factory will be located at the company’s new manufacturing complex, dubbed the "Manufacturing Complex for the 21st Century." The complex will be located in Sakai City in Osaka.

The plant will be built next to Sharp’s LCD panel factory currently under construction in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. It will produce thin-film solar cells, which use less silicon than conventional cells. 

The solar cell plant is also set to start production by March 2010. Plans call for an annual production volume of 1,000 MW (one million kW) per year for thin-film solar cells. Sharp first announced plans to build the plant back in July, but had not outlined the investment amount.

Sharp is aiming to make this a major industrial zone and is inviting other manufacturers to construct their plants on the site.

The factory is expected to have a production capacity of 1,000 MW per year, the largest in the world.