Sharp Corp. is to re-enter the European solar panel market in cooperation with Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., sources have said.

In the face of weak domestic demand, Sharp plans to expand overseas using the existing sales network of Hon Hai, better known as Foxconn, the sources said. Hon Hai has agreed to take a controlling stake in the troubled Osaka-based firm.

Sharp ended production of photovoltaic panels in Britain and Italy in 2014, although it has since maintained a sales base in Germany.