Q. Sharp pioneered solar technology 50 years ago, so how far have we come and what shape do you think the solar market in the UK is in today?
A. Sharp manufactures in the UK but we have been exporting up to 98 per cent of our [solar panel] production out of the UK to other countries in Europe up until now. With the ‘feed-in tariff’ (FIT) announcement, last month, we see the UK market taking off. Independent research we’ve commissioned tells us that the 28 megawatt (MW) installed capacity that we have in the UK at the present will increase to an estimated 250 MW by 2011. To put it in perspective that is 100,000 homes. And according to other figures from the Building Federation and such like that figure is set to increase to 400,000 homes by 2014.
Q. How important do you see the FIT being in growing the sector in the UK?
A. It has been crucial in the way that it has given us a roadmap for the future. It means we can invest in production and in employees and lay the foundations for a UK renewable industry.
Q. Do you thing the Government has devised a FIT that is fit for purpose?
A. I think it has – after delays and lobbying the Government has looked at how it has worked in other countries and looked at the benefits and mistakes that have been made elsewhere and put together a very well structured FIT. We’ve been asking the Government to step up to the plate and they have. So I can’t knock it.
Q. What about for businesses – is the return on investment good enough to encourage investment from the commercial sector?
A. Yes I think it is, but businesses need to look at this carefully. The Government has set out a viable FIT with proper returns on investment. Where else in our marketplace is there a guaranteed return on investment for 25 years? It’s inflation-linked and tax free (for householders). I haven’t seen a better route to market then that.
In the largest FIT market in the world – Germany – the return on investment was only seven per cent. [in the UK it is eight per cent]. There is nothing to stop us creating the same in the UK. For businesses it is really valued added. Businesses can go to market earning income from the electricity market and showing their customers they are environmentally responsible as well.
Q. Why should businesses in the UK invest in solar – after all this isn’t Spain?
A. It is a misconception that solar is all about sunlight – it is in fact all about daylight. You will produce less daylight in the north, but some of our biggest contracts have been up and Scotland.
In Scotland you are still looking at 750 for every kilowatt installed and then if you go south to Devon and Cornwall that rises to 1050 kW. But some of the biggest markets in world for solar are Benelux and Sweden, where the temperatures are lower – and lower temperatures do mean your solar panels will work more energy efficiently. The higher the temperature the less efficient it becomes.
Q. How can the UK become a global leader in solar PV uptake and renewable energy adoption?
A. We have a unique opportunity here because we’ve built a business without the FIT – on good old-fashioned British grit and determination. We’ve built the highest solar installation – the HSBC tower at Canary Warf. We have a unique ability to look at solar and all renewable energy in a different way, integrating it into buildings and exporting that to foreign countries – all over Europe.
Our market and more and more of our products are designed in relation to the building integration challenge –how do we take it further to market? This where we have become the leading light.
Q. What additional benefits can it bring to the UK in terms of job creation, expertise and R&D?
A. Estimations from the roofing contractors sector show that by 2014 about 30,000 new jobs will be created through this industry. That is real success story.
Not many people know this, but the entire Sharp laboratories for Europe are based in the UK, and that includes renewable such as LED lighting and LED TV and solar. We’ve just introduced the highest efficiency cell of 35 per cent. That is coming out of the UK. And in the UK, Sharp is already the largest renewable employer – 700 employees at our factory.
In line with growth of the marketplace, we are making further investment in the UK. We opened on Friday a brand new education and training facility at our plant in Wrexham, North Wales.
We concentrate on manufacturing but we see there is a need in the marketplace to educate, so we are launching a course from design to installation.
Q. What about advancements in technology – materials mean manufacturing solar PV is still expensive. What are you doing to bring down those costs?
A. Costs have dropped – by 30 odd per cent last year. And as schemes such as the feed-in tariffs encourage take up still further, prices will drop further.
On the technology front, we have different ways of manufacturing solar – we’ve been manufacturing crystalline solar panels for many years and thin-film solar for 28 odd years.
The whole manufacturing process is shortened by quite a lot with thin-film – where vapour is laid onto glass – but efficiencies are not quite up to line with crystalline.
Through innovation and inventions we can increase efficiencies. We are already working with a car manufacturer to put thin-film on its sunroofs.