In 1964, Sharp commercialized one of the world’s first all-transistor-diode electronic calculators, and in 1973, embedded for the first time in the world an LCD in a pocket calculator.
For both the calculator and the LCD, technological innovations led to improved performance and lower costs, and their use spread around the globe.
Now, looking ahead to the coming era of renewable energy, Sharp is putting its full efforts behind initiatives to enable anyone around the world to use and enjoy the benefits of solar-generated electric power.

On July 8, 2011, the inauguration ceremony was held in Catania, Italy, for a state-of-the-art thin-film solar cell plant to be operated by 3Sun S.r.l., (hereinafter: 3Sun) a joint venture of Sharp Corporation, Enel Green Power^* (hereinafter: EGP), and STMicroelectronics (hereinafter: ST).

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Raffaele Lombardo, President of Sicily Region, Giuseppe Castiglione, President of the Province of Catania, and Raffaele Stancanelli, Mayor of the City of Catania, as well as executives of Sharp Corporation, Enel, EGP, ST, and 3Sun.

Production capacity in the first phase of operation of this plant is set at 160 MW annually, and plans call for it to expand to 480 MW within the next few years. This thin-film solar cell plant is the largest in Italy and one of the largest in Europe.

Sharp’s concept is to contribute to the full-fledged adoption of solar power by moving into the total solutions business for solar-generated electric power—from development and production of solar cells to the design of solar power systems, construction and maintenance of solar power generation plants, and even becoming an independent power producer. This plant plays an important role as one part of this concept.

Inauguration ceremony held

Over the years, Sharp has taken the lead in developing and broadening the use of products that will be in demand in the coming era. Before introducing Sharp’s solar power initiatives, the following pages will provide a brief introduction to the electronic calculator and LCD as examples of successful Sharp business enterprises.

In 1960, over half a century ago, Sharp seized on a voluntary proposal from some of its young engineers as an opportunity to launch the development of a calculator that could be used by anyone, anytime, anywhere.

After a great deal of trial and error, Sharp commercialized one of the world’s first all-transistor-diode electronic desktop calculators in 1964, followed by the commercial introduction of the world’s first IC/LSI-based calculator (1967/1969) and the LCD pocket calculator (1973).

These innovative initiatives to shrink the size of the calculator and to reduce its power consumption made it possible for the use of calculators to spread around the world, and the technologies established over the course of their development contributed greatly to the subsequent development of the global electronics industry. In December 2005, Sharp’s pioneering development of the calculator was recognized by a prestigious IEEE^*1 Milestone^*2 from the IEEE, the world’s largest academic society for electrical, electronics, information, and telecommunications engineering.

The adoption of an LCD as the screen display accelerated the evolution of the pocket calculator away from desktop models. In addition, the subsequent development of LCD technologies and applications led to these displays being used even more widely in products such as information devices, audio/video equipment and communication appliances.

Even as they moved ahead with these developments, Sharp engineers remained committed to achieving the dream of developing a wall-mount LCD TV, and thanks to a persistent focus on technological innovation, that dream has become a reality. As developers and manufacturers, including Sharp, compete in technological innovations, LCD TVs, like the calculator, are becoming increasingly affordable as well as featuring remarkable improvements in picture quality, lighter weight, thinner profiles, and greater energy efficiency. Today, they have become products used by people the world over.

Sharp’s research on solar cells started 52 years ago in 1959. From the very beginning, Tokuji Hayakawa, Sharp’s founder, stepped into the laboratory and expressed strong interest in the research. His ideas were presented in his writings. “If we could find a way of generating electricity from limitless solar heat and light, that would benefit humankind to an extent we can scarcely imagine…” (from his autobiography, 1970). When speaking about technologies of the future, Hayakawa always touched on solar cells first.

Under Hayakawa’s vision, R&D into solar cells made steady progress, and in 1963, Sharp succeeded in mass producing monocrystalline solar cells. However, they were expensive at the time, and their main application was as a stand-alone source of power in places where the electric power grid did not reach, for example, remote lighthouses. In 1966, Sharp delivered to the Maritime Safety Agency of Japan (now the Japan Coast Guard) what was then the world’s largest solar power system for lighthouses, which was installed at a lighthouse on Ogami Island in Nagasaki Prefecture. Then, in 1976, Sharp solar cells were installed on Ume, Japan’s first application satellite. To the present, Sharp solar cells have been in use on more than 160 space satellites and at lighthouses in more than 2,500 locations.

Sharp solar cells have proven their reliability in harsh environments such as on lighthouses exposed to intense wind and rain, and in outer space with its extreme temperature variations. Since then, this technology has found widespread application, such as in the development of residential solar power systems, and is now playing an active role throughout the world.

Following previous recognition of its pioneering development of the electronic calculator, Sharp’s achievements in the commercialization and industrialization of solar cells were recognized as an IEEE Milestone from the IEEE in April 2010.

IEEE Milestone recognition (solar cells)

As a result of these efforts spanning more than half a century, Sharp’s cumulative production of solar cells reached 4.3 GW (gigawatts) by the end of 2010. This would be enough to power more than one million homes if each house were equipped with a 4-kW residential solar power system.

For medium- to long-term demand for solar power, according to a forecast for global electricity demand (see graph above) by the EREC (European Renewable Energy Council), it is assumed that photovoltaic power generation will continue to expand globally and account for 25.1% of the total demand for electricity worldwide in the year 2040.

However, reaching grid parity—the point at which the cost of photovoltaic electricity is equal to or less expensive than existing grid power—will be absolutely essential to bring about the widespread use of solar power.

In R&D of solar cells spanning more than 50 years, Sharp has consistently taken up the challenge to reduce costs. Sharp has increased the conversion efficiency of crystalline solar cells, reduced the thickness of the silicon used, and tackled innovations in production technology. Sharp has also been conducting R&D on thin-film solar cells which use less silicon and require fewer steps in the production process, and which offer ample room for reducing costs.

The high conversion efficiency of crystalline solar cells makes them ideal for residential applications where installation space is limited. At the same time, thin-film solar cells suffer less of a decline in conversion efficiency at high temperatures, and are ideally suited for large-scale power generation systems in climates with high ambient temperatures. By taking full advantage of the respective properties of these two types of solar cells, Sharp is aiming to reach grid parity at the earliest possible date.