It’s one thing to declare a company’s readiness to adhere to the “green” convention while describing a program being implemented in a manufacturing plant thousands of kilometers away, and it’s a totally different matter again when you have actual products and concrete plans to show the audience while declaring your company’s “green” mission and credentials. Sharp knows this well and takes the exact line in presenting their company strengths and the programs that support this strength.

To start with, we focused our attention on the many environment-friendly products presented during the event held at the Edsa Shangri-La on October 2. This organization primarily concerned with hardware and gadgets, we were not disappointed – the many examples of said products include various AQUOS LCD TVs, which by its nature are more environmentally friendly than the regular CRT TVs that it is bound to replace, air conditioners, air purifiers and refrigerators that make use of the Sharp-developed Plasmacluster ion generation technology, and a steam-generating microwave oven.

                                             Kenji Okunaka, Sharp President, talks about the LCD and CRT balance and the potential energy savings.

                                              Eyes strayed to the large LCDs, and stayed for the underlying "green" message.

Other, non-commercially available products include the thin-film solar panels Sharp is positioning as replacement for traditional silicon-based solar cells, and a LED-based street lamp. With all of this hardware, the Sharp’s overriding design policy is one of ecological efficiency, as evidenced by the event’s title, simply stated as the Sharp ECOlogy Campaign. The event is also part of Sharp’s Super Green Strategy that involves pursuing environmental conservation in all its businesses.  This essentially means that Sharp is hyper-conscious of its effect on the environment in all aspects of its business process, everything from the plants to the actual products. This strategy consists of Super Green Management, Super Green Technologies, Super Green Products/Devices, Super Green Recycling and Super Green Factories.

                                            The photographer found both the solar panels and the thin LCD equally interesting and could not settle on what picture to take.. Regardless, we end up with a great side profile shot of the super-thin AQUOS.

                                            Right beside the LCDs were some actual production solar panels that used Sharp's thin-film technology.

The different components can easily be understood from their quite-literal titles, and combines to create Sharp’s corporate vision of having energy-creating and energy-saving products, as well as becoming an environmentally-conscious company as a whole.
A quick look at the AQUOS line reveals not only environmental consciousness, but also a keen eye on what the consumer wants, in that the design and dynamic performance of this product line is also brought to the fore. The features and technologies mesh nicely to create satisfactory performance as a display system and as an environmental statement. A good example is the RGB-LED backlight system that creates amazing image quality and saves power at the same time, compared to traditional backlights.

                                             Smart application of environmentally-conscious technologies result in this LED-based, solar powered street light.

This smart application of technology is continued in its thin-film solar panels – which are low-cost options to the traditional crystal silicon solar cells – easier to manufacture and deploy, these thin-film panels are the result of Sharp’s 50 years of experience in the field of solar power technology and shows Sharp’s dominance in this field – after all, Sharp have produced nearly a quarter of all solar cells in use today. Further application of their technological dominance results in products and prototypes such as the solar-powered LED streetlamps, an amalgamation of two environmentally-friendly technologies that makes one wonder why nobody has thought of it before.

                                            "Pedestrian" gadgets they may be, but this Healsio Steam Oven is still revolutionary. Note the water tank in the oven's frame.

More pedestrian gadgets were also present during the event, including many kitchen-based appliances that in their own subtle way show an environmental consciousness that mirrors their parent company’s. The Plasmacluster Ion System is effective against airborne pollutants such as dust, allergens, and smoke, as well as bacteria and viruses. It is installed in Sharp’s refrigerators, air conditioners, and air purifiers and uses a chemical process that can be enabled with a simple push of a button, as seen on its refrigerators.

                                            Plasmacluster Ion System is also present in Sharp's refrigerators. It is enabled by using the cool-looking button in the middle part of this ref.

Another “green” kitchen appliance is the Healsio Steam Oven, which uses superheated steam and microwave power to cook food, eliminating the need to prepare food by cooking in oil or grilling over open flame. The Healsio helps retain flavor in cooked food while lowering fat and salt content, making it an economical and smart way to prepare food.

                                             This monolithic and menacing-looking air purifier is only deadly to airborne impurities such as bacteria and allergenics; it also laps up dust particles.

Sharp also took the opportunity to update us on the construction of the world’s biggest solar power generation project for a manufacturing complex in Sakai City, Osaka, Japan. With the cooperation of Sakai City, which organized and prepared the infrastructure, and Kansai Electric, Sharp is planning to complete construction of a 28 megawatt (28,000 kilowatt) solar generation plant that will help power Sharp’s and other company’s manufacturing facilities in said complex once it is completed in March of 2010.

                                             Sharp's other products were also present and accounted for during the event.

In this collaboration, Kansai Electric will implement and learn from the operation and utilization of the solar power generation plants, and share the knowledge publicly to further spread the word on solar power and its advantages. Sharp on the other hand, as one of the biggest manufacturers of solar panels, will benefit from a wider acceptance of this wonderfully environmentally-conscious technology.

                                            Our eyes (and cameras!) could not help but stray again to the beautiful AQUOS LCDs on display.

Thus from a single event, we have come to see the width and scope of Sharp’s environmentally-conscious activities – activities that send out a challenge to other companies parroting the words but not taking any action. From the products right in front of us, all the way back to the manufacturing process, the manufacturing plant, and down to the method used to power its plants, Sharp has got all the angles covered as an environmentally-conscious company. The green revolution is here, and Sharp is leading from the front in all aspects.

                                               A symbolic "tree" prepared by Sharp hosts "leaves" on which "commitments" were written down by the audience stating environmental consciousness.