Sharp to Power Solar Panel Factory With Solar Energy (Japan)

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/147465/sharp_to_power_solar_panel_factory_with_solar_energy.html

Sharp plans to partially power a new solar panel factory with energy generated from a solar installation on the plant's roof, it said Monday.

The company and local power utility Kansai Electric will install Sharp solar panels on the roof of the factory and other buildings in the new complex with the aim of initially generating 9 megawatts of power. The system will expand to eventually reach 18 megawatts -- that represents about 5 percent of the total energy consumption of the plant, said Sharp.

The ¥72 billion (US$69 million) plant is being constructed in Sakai City, near Osaka in western Japan, and will be capable of producing 480 megawatts worth of cells per year by March 2010 when it is due to start production.

The factory will make thin-film type solar panels that are best suited for use in hot countries where there is plenty of sun. Thin-film panels use 1 percent of the silicon required to make conventional crystalline-type panels and so are easier on the environment from a production standpoint.

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Anyway, we should put miles of solar panels in the Nevada and Arizona deserts along the highway which feed into the grid.

... "We use what we sell!"

...I brought the company!