A company announcement reported that the landmark solar panel was manufactured at its assembly plant in Memphis, Tennessee, which first went online in 2003. The company also noted that since 2003, the size of its manufacturing staff has tripled, growing along with the facility's production capacity.
"Having the two millionth panel roll off of the production lines is a testament to the growing demand for solar electricity, and our steadfast dedication to growing the solar electricity market," said Kozo Takahashi, CEO of Sharp Electronics Corporation. "This is a tremendous achievement for Sharp and the entire clean tech sector."
Since 2003, the company's Memphis facility has also produced enough solar modules to power more than 65,000 average homes while also offsetting about 12 million metric tons of carbon emissions per year.
Looking ahead, milestones like this are likely to continue to be reached by other companies. This is because federal tax incentives will remain in place for several more years to encourage solar energy investments, and a stabilizing economy will make more people willing to consider installing photovoltaic arrays.
