Sharp Corporation started operations at its new LCD panel plant (Sharp Display Products Corporation) in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Construction on this state-of-the-art manufacturing complex for LCD panels and thin-film solar cells began 1 in November 2007. This plant is the first facility in the world to adopt 10th-generation glass substrates. Using Sharp’s proprietary UV2A photo-alignment technology, the plant is capable of producing high-contrast, energy-efficient panels of 40 inches and larger.

The manufacturing complex will bring the world two environmentally friendly product lines: energy-saving LCD panels and energy-creating solar panels, when the thin-film solar cell plant picks up operation in March 2010. In addition the new manufacturing complex stets benchmarks in resource saving production. Besides implementing similar waste management and water recycling systems like the ones that have proven successful at the Kameyama plant, all factory roofs will be equipped with solar panel to generate 18 WM of electricity for the manufacturing complex.

Furthermore approximately 100,000 LED lights for both indoors and outdoors will substantially cut down power consumption for illumination to the entire the complex. The production capacity is 72,000 substrates per month (36,000 substrates per month at start of operations). The Glass substrate size is 2,880 x 3,130 mm (10th-generation glass substrate).