Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Sharp Corp., the world's second- largest maker of solar batteries, plans to increase its capacity to produce thin-film solar cells sixfold to meet energy demand in Europe, India and the U.S.

The company will raise the capacity to 6 gigawatts as early as 2014, from 1 gigawatt estimated for 2010, Toshishige Hamano, a vice president in charge of Osaka-based Sharp's solar-battery division, told reporters today at its factory in Nara prefecture, western Japan.

Sharp, which lost its market-leading position to Thalheim, Germany-based Q-Cells AG last year, is focusing on expanding its solar-cell output through thin-film technology. This uses 1 percent the amount of silicon needed for conventional models.

``Thin-film solar batteries will be more popular than conventional types because of lower production cost,'' Hamano said.

One gigawatt of power is enough to light up at least 200,000 households of four people in Japan, Katsuya Uchino, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co., Asia's largest power utility, said by telephone.

Sharp is aiming for a 50 percent share of the thin-film solar cell market by 2012, Hamano said, without providing a comparative figure.

The company today started shipping solar cells from the Nara plant, which has capacity of 160 megawatts a year using thin-film technology.

It is spending 72 billion yen ($679 million) to build another thin-film solar battery plant in Osaka, western Japan, which will have capacity of 480 megawatts.

Sharp forecast in April that its solar business would post operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, of 4.6 billion yen in the year ending March 31. That would account for 2.4 percent of total sales in the period.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hiroshi Suzuki in Tokyo at hsuzuki5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 1, 2008 05:56 EDT