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Sharp Solar Profit Is Positive Again (Solar Cell Sales Increase 69%)

by James Ayre May 15, 2014

Sharp has managed to fight its way back to profitability this year — posting an 18% boost in sales over last year, up to JPY 2.93 trillion (US$28.6 billion), and a net profit of JPY 11.56 billion ($113 million). The return to profitability is notable because of the large loss posted by the company the previous year.

The recent gains were partly thanks to the recent boom in Japan’s residential solar market, as well as the fact that 2013 was a good year for the company’s other sectors.

Solar cell sales rose by a very substantial 68.9% to JPY 439 billion ($4.3 billion) — this was partly down to the residential market, but also partly down the utilization of its panels in large-scale solar projects.

According to reps from the company, this current fiscal year will see a pick-up in the Japanese economy, and, subsequently, a pick-up in sales.

May 15, 2014 0 comment

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Which Solar Panels Are Most Efficient?

by Zach July 18, 2013

written by Zach

Updated several times, last time being March 21, 2015, in order to update the efficiency records.

Reposted from Cost of Solar:

One of the most common things people ask when they start to consider going solar or start to plan their life-changing solar expedition is which are the most efficient solar panels. However, first of all, that’s not even the right question for most people, and second of all, the literal answer to that question really isn’t relevant for the average consumer. Let me explain….

First of all, the important matter is not which solar panels are most efficient, but which solar panels are the best value for the money. If you’ve got space for 10 solar panels on your roof and you have an option between solar panels “ABEfficient” that are a bit more efficient but twice the price of solar panels “CDCheap,” chances are, you are going to make a much bigger savings by going with CDCheap. Of course, the important thing would be to see what’s available in your situation and simply run the numbers (or, if you are allergic to math, have a friend who can do math run the numbers for you).

But, anyway, if you really want to know which are the most efficient solar panels (or solar cells) out there, I actually happened to be putting together a list of solar records recently and can give you the rundown. But, as I do so, I’ll drop in a few key notes making the point above a bit clearer. Before looking at solar panels as a whole, let’s have a quick look at the producers of some of the most efficient solar cells (the key component of solar panels) and their efficiency records:

46% efficient solar cells by Soitec & Fraunhofer Institute. Notably, these world-leading solar cells from Soitec and Fraunhofer Institute are in the concentrator quadruple-junction solar cell category. Such solar cells are complicated and are not used in residential or commercial applications… because they are bloody expensive. They are used in space applications by the likes of NASA, where a bit of extra space (or, as it may be, less space via extra efficiency) can make a huge difference.
44.4% efficient solar cells by Sharp previously held the overall efficiency record. However, they still hold the record for triple-junction (concentrator) solar cells.
37.9% efficient solar cells by Sharp. A big step down, these are in the triple-junction, non-concentrator solar cell category. If this is all new to you, it might take you awhile to see the difference in the categories. The difference is that these solar cells don’t use anything to concentrate the light hitting the solar cells, while the 44.4% efficiency cells noted above do use something to concentrate the light (of course, adding to their costs).
32.6% solar cells by a Spanish solar research institute (IES) and university (UPM). These are another step down, as they are in the two-junction, concentrator solar cell category. (For an intro on “junctions,” by the way, check out this multi-junction photovoltaic cell article on Wikipedia.) Again, these are still far different solar cells from what are used in commercial or residential installations.
There are about a dozen or so extra categories that I could run down. Some categories have very high efficiencies but the solar cells are quite expensive, while others are actually on the other end of the spectrum (no pun intended) and are very cheap but have very low efficiency. Of course, some are both inefficient and expensive, but apparently worth researching nonetheless. The key, as I noted earlier, is finding the best balance between cost and efficiency.

July 18, 2013 5 comments

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Sharp Regains Solar Cell Efficiency Record

by Zach May 4, 2013

written by Zach

Sharp has a long string of solar cell efficiency records. And it has just extended that string a little further.

In 2009, Sharp landed a 35.8% triple-junction, non-concentrator solar cell efficiency record. It then went on to break that record a couple more times — with others breaking it as well. Up until recently, that record sat at 37.8%, and Boeing-Spectrolab was the record holder. But Sharp now reports that it has increased its cell efficiency from 37.7% (the record before Boeing-Spectrolab came along) to 37.9%. The efficiency record has been verified by National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).

So, Sharp is in the lead again.

If you don’t follow such technology closely, let me quickly explain what a couple of these key terms mean. Conventional solar cells are “single-junction” solar cells, so they are just tuned to one wavelength of light. That greatly limits the efficiency of the solar cells. “Multi-junction” solar cells (in this case, triple-junction solar cells) add junctions using different materials in order to capture more wavelengths of light.

Of course, this has drawbacks — it’s more expensive and more difficult, for example — but it can considerably increase solar cell efficiency. As you can see in this NREL graph on solar cell efficiencies, multi-junction solar cells rule the roost when it comes to efficiency (note: the graph doesn’t yet include Sharp’s new record):

Click to enlarge this beast.

May 4, 2013 1 comment

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10 Top Solar Module Manufacturers In 2012 (IHS Report)

by Zach April 13, 2013

written by Zach

Market research firm IHS has released a report on the top solar module manufacturers of 2012. Regular readers may think this sounds familiar. If so, it’s probably because you’re remembering the Solarbuzz report on the top solar module manufacturers of 2012 that we reported on in March. For the most part, the IHS report agrees with the Solarbuzz report’s top 10 list. However, there are some differences.

As with Solarbuzz, IHS reports that the top 2 solar module manufacturers of 2012 were Yingli (#1) and First Solar (#2). However, in the Solarbuzz report, Suntech came in at #3, while it came in at #5 in the IHS one. Compared to the Solarbuzz report, Trina Solar climbs from #4 to #3, while Canadian Solar climbs from #5 to #4.

Sharp Solar is #6 on both lists, Jinko Solar is #7, and Hanwha SolarOne is #10. However, Solarbuzz had JA Solar at #8 and SunPower at #9, while IHS has SunPower at #8 and REC Solar at #9.

For the rest of this article, I’ll just delve further into the IHS report.

Solar Power World had a good summary of the key movements in the top 10:

“In a year that proved very challenging for the entire PV industry, Yingli managed to increase its merchant shipment volumes by 43 percent year-over-year to leapfrog Suntech as well as U.S.-based First Solar, the two largest suppliers of 2011. First Solar managed to defend its position as the No. 2 module manufacturer, while Suntech lost significant ground and was displaced to fifth position behind Trina Solar and Canadian Solar. REC, the only Top 10 supplier headquartered in Europe, grew faster than most of its Chinese competitors in 2012. Increasing its module shipments by 31 percent year-over-year to 757 megawatts (MW), REC strengthened its position as a leading player in a highly competitive environment.”

I would think that more of the manufacturers not in the top 10 would have fallen by the wayside in 2012, but according to IHS, the top 10 in 2012 accounted for 40% of market share, while the top 10 in 2011 accounted for 46% of market share. IHS reports that the companies that took market share from the top 10 were other large manufacturers that had scaled up operations despite the global solar module oversupply and diving solar module prices.

Also, Japanese module manufacturers benefited from the solar boom resulting from the country’s aggressive feed-in tariffs, as well as the country’s strong preference for Japanese-made products (especially when it comes to technology).

“Japanese suppliers Solar Frontier and Kyocera expanded output and shipments massively in 2012, and both benefited from the current boom in Japan,” Stefan de Haan, principal analyst for solar at IHS, said. “Solar Frontier climbed from No. 14 in 2011 to 11th place in 2012, while Kyocera rose from No. 17 to No. 12.”

April 13, 2013 3 comments