Louease Coley double-checked her machine's monitor Tuesday morning, smiled, lifted a thumb high in the air and turned proudly to her applauding co-workers.
In the noisy din of the Sharp Manufacturing Co. of America factory, Coley had just approved the Memphis facility's 2 millionth solar panel.
That panel was hoisted off Coley's line by Memphis Mayor A C Wharton, Sharp Electronics Corp. CEO Kozo Takahashi and local union leader Paul Shaffer. Coley quickly admitted it was a "very different day at work."
International, national, state and local leaders gathered at the Sharp factory on Mendenhall Tuesday morning to witness the production milestone.
"To put this into perspective for you, the factory has produced enough solar panels to power 65,000 average-sized homes," Takahashi said. "That's nearly a quarter of the homes in Memphis, and it saves nearly 12 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year."
The factory has produced residential and commercial solar panels in Memphis since 2003. It produced color televisions when it opened here in 1978. The company began microwave production here in 1980 and moved television production to Mexico in 2000.
"This is proof positive that Sharp is willing to put its money where its mouth is," said Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp Solar Energy Group and leader of the Memphis facility. "In 2003, Sharp decided the market was valid enough, large enough and prosperous enough to put a factory in service. So, from zero to 2 million is an amazing feat."
Kenedi said the U.S. market for solar panels grows every year. The Memphis production facility has learned to quicken its production pace to meet it, he said, noting that the 1 millionth solar panel rolled off the line in late 2008.
