Greentech Media

Sharp Hit By High Silicon Costs

Sharp Corp., which makes solar panels and liquid-crystal displays, said Monday its net income fell 16.8 percent in the second quarter, compared to the same quarter last year.

The company posted a net income of 18.8 billion yen (about $164 million) for the quarter, which ended Sept. 30. That compares to 22.6 billion yen for the year-ago quarter.

Sharp said a shortage of solar-grade silicon and the resulting higher prices led to the decline, along with depreciation costs and a one-time cost of starting up an LCD plant in Poland.

SunPower, another solar-cell manufacturer, also gave higher costs due to the silicon shortage as a reason for the lower-than-expected margins it posted Wednesday (see SunPower Margins Fall; Income Beats Expectations).

For the half year, Sharp said net income fell 7.6 percent from the first half of 2006 to 43 billion yen (about $375.3 million). Operating income was 79 billion yen (about $689.6 million), down from 90.17 billion yen for the same period last year.

But net sales rose 11.9 percent to 1.64 trillion yen, compared to 1.465 trillion yen in the first half of 2006.

A123 Raises $30M For Alternative-Vehicle Batteries

Battery developer A123Systems said Monday it bagged $30 million in a fourth round of venture-capital funding.

The round brings A123 to a total of $132 million in funding, with investors including General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Alliance Capital, Motorola, Qualcomm, North Bridge Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, CMEA Ventures, FA Technology Ventures, OnPoint, Carruth Management and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Watertown, Mass.-based startup says it will use the money to increase production of batteries for alternative vehicles, such as hybrid and electric cars.

The news is a sign that investors see a growing market for energy storage technologies like batteries. Aside from A123, Planar Energy Devices, a spin-off from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, also said it raised money Monday

A123 makes lithium-ion batteries. At the heart of the company's work is a proprietary doped-nanophosphate technology, which A123 claims improves its battery's power density while reducing its risk of overheating and catching fire.

The company already sells its batteries to Black & Decker for cordless power tools, and plans to use tools as a gateway to bigger battery applications (see What's Next for A123?).

A123 is working on vehicle battery systems with BAE Systems and General Motors. It also was named a top-10 startup company by Greentech Media in September (see Top Ten Startups in Greentech).