Sharp
will
add
200MW
of
capacity
at
its
factory
in
Sakai
by
March
2011,
lifting
its
total
to
1.07GW,
according
to
Tetsuo
Onishi,
the
head
of
its
renewables
division.
The
new
lines
will
be
capable
of
producing
modules
with
an
efficiency
of
17%,
underscoring
Sharp’s
strategy
to
produce
higher
cost,
higher
quality
PV
products
than
most
of
its
Asian
competitors.
Until
recent
years
Sharp
was
the
world’s
largest
PV
manufacturer,
but
it
placed
third
in
2009
behind
US-based
First
Solar
and
China’s
Suntech
–
and
is
likely
to
see
its
ranking
slide
again…
