Sharp Corporation, the number one maker of solar cells in the world, plans to increase production of thin-film silicon solar cells over the next year at one of its plants located in the Nara Prefecture, Japan. The increased production is directly related to a global shortage of silicon, company officials said. The thin-film cells only need one hundredth the total amount of silicon used for regular solar cells, which traditionally convert light energy to electrical energy. Even though the demand is up, Sharp first half profit is down 12.4% due to tighter supplies and rising costs of supplies used to make the solar cell technology.