TOKYO, JAPAN
- Japanese consumer electronics maker Sharp Corp. said it would spend 72 billion yen ($729 million) to build a new solar cell plant in Sakai, western Japan.
Sharp said in July it would build the world's largest solar cell plant by March 2010, along with a 380 billion yen liquid crystal display (LCD) panel plant, but it did not disclose the size of capital investments for the solar cell factory.
Sharp competes with Germany's Q-Cells in solar cells. Solar companies around the world are expanding production capacity rapidly to meet growing demand for green energy to counter global warming.