optolink international edition 2010 q1 issue

8/9/2019 Optolink International Edition 2010 Q1 Issue

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Industry News

4 Global Photovoltaic Industry Outlook

6 Feed-in Tariff Impact on Worldwide Photovoltaic Installation

13 The Urgency for PV Development and Needs of HCPV

19 Can CPV Reach Commercialization?

24 Taiwan Photovoltaic Industry Overview

27 Photovoltaic Industry Cluster in Taiwan

30 PV Rush

Exhibition Watch

32Photonics as Solution to Global Warming the 15th IOA Meeting in Taiwan

Company Profiles

36 Neo Solar Power: Aggressive Expansion for Uprising PV Market

38 AUO Solar the Trusted Name in Future PV Industry

40 Gintech Prospers After the Storm

42 Kinmac Solar:Cultivating Sustainable Environment through Photovoltaic Energy

44 Motech Power: Power the World with Solar Energy

ContentsOptoLink International Edition (OLIE)

is a quarterly magazine published

by the Photonics Industry and

Technology Development

Association (PIDA).

5F., No. 9, Roosevelt Road, Sec. 2.,

Taipei, Taiwan, 10093.

www.pida.org.tw

Tel.: +886-2-2396-7780

Fax: +886-2-2341-4559

Publisher:Frank Ma, CEO of PIDA

Editorial Team:Angel Chiou, Dan Guo,

Murphy Lin, Stephy Chen,

Karen Ho, Deaphne Kuo,

Jason Lu, Emily Hu

Art Designer:Chiou-Ling Liu

Director of Market &Bussiness Division:

Ryan Chung

Sales Contact:Ginger Chen, Allen Lee,

Pamela Hsiao,

Cathy Zhang, Ben Tsai,

Henry Nieh, Jerry Lee

Advertising:Christine Chen

[email protected]

Subscriptions:Simon Huang

[email protected]

Editorial Submissions:Angel Chiou

([email protected])

OPTOLINK Q1, 2010

13

http://www.pida.org.tw/olie/

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Europe66%

NorthAmerica14%

Asia 16%

Others4%

Global Photovoltaic Indusby Angel Chiou

ChinaSolar power installation in

China is estimated to reach2GW in 2013.

The global downturnin 2009 enforces thetransformation of ChinaPV industry structure.The increasing domesticdemand turns China froma global production baseinto one of the biggestapplication market.

Chinas on-grid solarmarket is expected to haveexplosive growth in 2010.

Fig1. Global PV Market Breakdown by Country Fig2. Global Demand of Solar Power by Region

Courtesy: PIDA, 2010/1 Courtesy: PIDA, 2010/1

Europe

Market Demand from Europe reached3,486 MW in 2009, a negative growth at24% comparing with the previous year.

Europes module manufacturing ordersshift to Asia for lower cost after theeconomic turmoil.

Germany replaces Spain to become the

largest installer and accounts for 2,200MW in 2009, an annual growth rate at41%.

Italy installed in 2009 grows 73% toreach 450 MW, remaining the thirdlargest installer in Europe.

Greece introduces new FIT in January2009 to stimulate installation to growfrom 60 MW in 2009 to 300 MW in 2013.However, one of the most importantconcerns for PV players worldwide is thegovernments fscal capacity.

Czech Republics installation amountreached 90 MW in 2009 with the annualgrowth rate at 80%, and is highly

potential to reach 310 MW in 2013.

4 OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q1

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2006 2007 2008 2009e 2010f 2011f 2012f

c-Si a-Si CdTe CIGS DSSC

93% 89% 87% 80% 77% 76% 74%

4%5% 5%

4%4% 6% 7%

4%6% 7% 15%

17% 16% 16%

0% 1% 1% 2% 2% 2% 3%

93% 89% 87% 80% 77% 76% 74%

4%5% 5%

4%4% 6% 7%

4%6% 7% 15%

17% 16% 16%

0% 1% 1% 2% 2% 2% 3%

try Outlook

Japan

PV installation in Asia amounts 764 MW in 2009, taking 15% of theglobal share. Among other Asian countries, Japans installationtops with 480MW.

Japans domestic demand rapidly increases in 2009. Residentialsolar power installation occupies about 90% of the domesticmarket in Japan.

Japan transfers cell manufacturing orders to Taiwan due to costconcern.

TaiwanWith the governments support and several public policies, Taiwan

PV application market generates 9 MW in 2009 a six-fold growthcomparing with that in 2008.

The export focus of Taiwan PV industry is reoriented toward Asiafrom Europe.

Korea

Korea actively completes its industry chain in recent years. Thereare over 50 PV companies in up-/mid-stream industry, half of whichfocus on solar cell manufacturing. Crystalline silicon solar cells arethe major product for now.

Koreas crystalline silicon solar cell production capacity reached386 MW in 2009. The annual capacity is expected to reach 150 MW.

USAUS installed 750MW in 2009 with annual

growth rate over 120%.

California, New Jersey, Colorado,Nevada, and Arizona states amount toapproximately 85% of the installation inthe US.

CSI (California Solar Initiative) Programaims to generate 1,950 MW by 2016.

US is becoming one of the most promisingmarket in near future.

Buy American Act attracts foreigninvestment of PV players from Germany,China, Taiwan and etc.

Fig3. Global Revenue of PV Industry Forecast Fig4. Global PV Module Technology Breakdown

Courtesy: PIDA, 2010/1 Courtesy: PIDA, 2010/1

OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q15

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Feed-in Tarif Impact onWorldwide PhotovoltaicInstallaon

by Tomas Martin

From a niche market at the beginning o

the century, solar is rapidly becoming a

major part o the renewable mix, with

six gigawatts o PV installed in 2008 and

twenty-two gigawatts a year predicted by 2013 by the

European Photovoltaic Industry Association. Tis does

not include Concentrated Solar hermal Power orConcentrated Photovoltaics. he Concentrated Solar

Termal Power industry alone has ourteen gigawatts

in development or installation by 2014. Figure 1 shows

the worldwide photovoltaic install base to date as well

as a selection o projections or the next ve years.

Photovoltaics are a rapidly maturing technology.

Eiciencies o silicon panels have reached 20% and

higher, and cheaper thin ilm cells now account

or a sixth o the global market. As silicon supply

constrictions ease and manuacturing grows in

sophistication, the price o a PV module is alling,

with declines o as much as 35% predicted over the

coming twelve to eighteen months by the Renewable

Energy Corporation.

However, PV technology is still expensive

compared to conventional ossil uel power sources,

and wind power. System install prices per watt are as

much as six times more expensive than coal or gas,

and roughly twice as expensive as a wind turbine.Despite the price, photovoltaics hold considerable

advantages. In addition to emission-ree generation,

panels are long lasting and have no moving parts.

Sunlight is a more reliable resource to predict and

harvest than wind, which is ar more variable. Te low

impact actor o a panel makes planning permission

easier than wind and where economic considerations

are avorable the installations o solar have proceeded

ar aster than competing renewables.

In the coming decade, the overwhelming

downside o photovoltaics high installation cost

is projected to disappear. Module price has been high

Article Published in InterPV Magazine, October 2009 Edition

With the annual installation capacity of photovoltaics reaching six gigawatts in 2008, it hasbecome clearer that feed-in tariff incentives such as those used in Germany and Spain can

give countries a dramatic advantage in establishing a competitive market for solar power.

Aside from the USA which uses different incentive programs and Japan which stopped its

own incentive program in 2005, all the major installers of photovoltaics in 2008 did so via a

feed-in tariff. Following a slower increase in installations in 2009 due to the global recession,

more panels remain available on the market. Countries designing an attractive tariff with

sensible caps and accelerating grid connection and planning procedures could benet from

the oversupply of modules in 2010.


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historically due to a mismatch o silicon processing

capacity to the demand or photovoltaic panels.

Manuacturers have until recently placed a priority

on eiciency and technology improvements over

cost reductions in a market where they knew their

product would sell out.

hats no longer the case. In some sunny

countries, photovoltaics are projected to be cost

competitive with conventional power by the middle

o the decade or earlier by many experts, with

McKinsey expecting at least 10 countries to see grid

parity by 2020 and the EPIA projecting grid parity in

Italy as early as 2010.2009 saw poor perormances in the irst two

quarters due to the impacts o the global recession

and a widespread lack o nancing. Full installation

and manuacturing numbers or the year were not yet

available at the time o writing, but it is expected that

2009 saw an increase in manuactured capacity to

around 8GW, but a all in installations to between a

hal to three quarters o its 2008 value.

his oversupply o photovoltaic modules, in

addition to rened silicon price decreases and subsidy

cuts in Germany and Spain has already begun to

reduce module costs dramatically and will continue

to do so into 2010. As the nancial situation recovers

and more investment becomes available, it is expected

that installation igures will rebound as developers

take advantage o the reduction in costs. Experts at

Bank Sarasin project as much as 8.5GW o installed

PV in 2010, with a rush to install in Germany beore

subsidies are cut halway through the year, and a

rebound in Spanish markets as projects become cost

competitive even once the eed-in tari cap is reached.

Nevertheless, to encourage the solar industry toreach grid parity quicker, it needs stable, predicable

demand or its product. Te most eective way to do

this is through government incentives, o which there

are three main types: obligations, subsidies and eed-

in taris.

The alternative incentive schemes:Obligations and Subsidies

Mandate or obligation based incentives such

Fig.1 Reported and projected annual installations to 2013

Courtesy: Lux, Gartner, EPIA


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as Renewable Portolio Standards or Renewable

Obligation Certiicates are used in twenty-seven

American states plus the District o Columbia and

in the UK, Italy and Belgium. he schemes require

power utilities to provide a speciied proportion o

their electricity generation rom renewables. hey

receive certiicates that can be sold to those who

havent ullled their quota, in a system similar to the

proposed carbon trading scheme.

Although they have stimulated some installations,

obligations have patchy eectiveness once a

quota is illed, or example, the demand to install

drops entirely. hey can also present serious longterm nancial uncertainty or investors due to their

reliance on market-based systems, as in the UK case,

where the nal price received rom a ROC depends

on how many other people are claiming or them.

he complexity o claiming certiicates and

the uncertainties involved makes obligations

unattractive or small scale installations. Whilst

utilities can aord to employ oices to deal with

the procedure, the diiculties in claiming a ew

certiicates a year or homeowner with a small

photovoltaic installation are daunting. In addition,

obligations historically have been insuicient to

promote the desired demand without additional

subsidies such as grants or tax credits. he UK

power industry regularly ails to hit the targets set

by its Renewable Obligation Scheme.

Subsidies such as tax credits, rebates and grants

are an eective stimulus or renewable installations.

Japan became the world leader in both photovoltaics

installations and manuacture in the early parts o

the decade through a 50% grant or anyone installingphotovoltaic panels. Te 30% Production ax Credit

in the US is oten credited with more stimulating

eect than the Renewable Portolio Standard.

Subsidies require large amounts o money

to be provided up ront by governments, which

poses economic and political issues. hey also have

demand issues. Once a subsidy reaches its quota or

is removed, the demand or installations doesnt just

slow, it drops dramatically. he stop-start nature o

the US Production ax Credit in the last ew years

has played havoc with the American solar and wind

industries, subjecting them to cycles o boom and

bust as subsidies were introduced and not consistently

continued rom year to year.

Feed-in tariffs

A eed in tari by comparison has a deined

rate o return guaranteed over a long time period,

diminishing the risk or the investor. Power

companies, governments or utilities are mandated

to pay renewable electricity generators a premium

price per kilowatt hour, substantially higher than the

normal electricity price. he cost o this premium

is levied rom the utility bills o traditional retail

customers, a revenue stream less subject to the whimso political budgets.

he price oered is guaranteed to installers o

renewable energy or a ixed long term contract,

typically iteen years. As the cost o renewables are

mostly in the initial construction, their long term cost

is quite reliable compared to ossil uel generation,

which has large variable uel costs aer construction.

Aer construction, the price o generation o a wind

turbine or photovoltaic panel is close to zero aside

rom maintenance and replacement parts. It is this

act that allows the eed-in tari to be so precisely

calculated, to ensure that the initial construction cost

is paid back in an acceptable payback time.

Each year the tari price or new installations

decreases by a set amount, with the aim o driving

innovation and cost reductions by the technology

companies. By decreasing the cost each year, the eed-

in tari pushes the industry towards grid parity, the

point at which renewable energy costs no more than

the traditional cost o power. At this point the tari is

phased out, having done its job.By early 2009 orty-ive countries and eighteen

states or provinces had eed-in taris in place, with

several others under discussion or introduction by

2010. By 2008 a number o incentives had been in

place long enough to compare installation trends

between countries with eed-in taris and those with

competing strategies.

Additional benets of feed-in tariffs

One eature o eed-in tari implementation has

only been seen recently in those countries with large


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amounts o renewables installed, namely Germany

and Denmark. Because o their eed-in taris, both

countries have enough wind power to observe dramatic

eects on electricity prices. Rather than the eed-in

tari increasing the cost o electricity to the consumer,

the opposite eect has been seen, and electricity prices

in Denmark have actually been reduced by more than

the cost o the tari to the consumer!

he reason or this depends on the nature o

electricity grids. A certain amount o electricity is pre-

purchased to match known demand. Te remainder

is bought and sold on the spot market depending on

how much electricity is needed. ypically additionaldemand is lled by natural gas plants, which can be

very expensive. In Germany and Denmark the cost o

using wind or solar or this purpose is essentially ree

due to the lack o uel costs. So i the wind is blowing

or the sun is shining, the electricity companies can

buy the renewable power instead o turning on

expensive gas plants. he price o electricity has

decreased as a result.

The impact of feed-in tariffs on

installationshe impact o a eed-in tari on installations has

already been seen in wind, particularly in Germany and

Denmark. First introduced in 1991, the German eed-

in tari at irst paid the same price or all renewable

technologies. he expense o photovoltaics at that

time made solar a relatively small part o the picture

but wind installations grew dramatically. Wind energy

accounted or 7% o German electricity in 2008, and

over 20% o Denmarks electricity supply. Tis has had

a dramatic eect on renewable jobs in these countries.It is no coincidence that the biggest wind turbine

manuacturer, Vestas, is Danish. In addition to the

capacity increases, the Fis year on year price decrease

has stimulated cost reductions in the industry, with

German wind arms on average a third cheaper than

those produced under the UK Renewable Obligation

scheme. Germany had an estimated 280,000 renewable

jobs in 2008, up rom 30,000 in 1998.

Only in the past our years has the superiority o

eed-in taris over other methods been conirmed

in solar power. All o the countries with signiicant

installations have done so using a eed-in tari,

except or Japan and the USA. In most o the

countries with signiicant PV installations, the vast

majority o installations have occurred ollowing the

introduction o a eed-in tari. Spain and Germanys

dramatic growth are the clearest indicators, but

recent tari introductions in Italy, South Korea,

France, Portugal and the Czech Republic have all led

to stimulation o previously insignicant markets or

photovoltaics. Figure 2 shows a graph o annual solar

power installations, grouped by country.

Germany and Spain are the clearest examples

o the eed-in tari phenomenon. Germanys solar

installations had been modestly increasing under theexisting 1991 Stromeinspeisungsgesetz (StrEG) act.

However, when the scheme was revised in 2000 and

2004 with higher rates or photovoltaics, Germany

saw a dramatic eect on solar uptake. By the end o

2008 5.3 gigawatts o PV had been installed rom

less than 100 megawatts beore the eed-in tari was

revised in 2000. he scheme has no upper limit on

installation capacity and has succeeded in boosting

Germanys share o renewables to 14% by 2007.

he Spanish example seen second rom the let

in gure two is the most dramatic eect o a eed-in

tari. In Spains case, where the amount o sunlight

received makes any tari seem very attractive, the

scheme was actually too successul in promoting

installations. he 2007 Royal decree or renewables

in Spain introduced a eed-in premium system

where a certain guaranteed premium was added

to the electricity price or renewables. he Spanish

government anticipated installations below 1GW.

However, by September 2008 it was clear that ar

more solar had been installed than anticipated.Assessments vary between 2.6 and 3.5 gigawatts o

photovoltaic installed beore the tari cuto date o

September 2008.

he uptake in Spain was so strong that PV was

removed rom the general tari and a new 2008

decree was set with lower rates. o prevent a similar

rush, the 500 megawatt limit to Spanish installations

will be parcelled out over the course o 2009. his

new low cap is largely responsible or the large

amounts o panels expected to be manuactured in

2009 without a buyer. Te delay or the 2009 tari due

to backlog o 2008 applicants is believed to have lost


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15,000 Spanish solar-related jobs since summer 2008.

Te strong solar insolation in Spain, combined with

the decrease in module prices, means this market is

close to competitive even without the tari going into

the new decade.

Countries with more recent tari introductions,

such as France, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, the Czech

Republic and South Korea, have all shown smaller

echoes o the eects seen in Germany and Spain.

From negligible annual install quantities, each o

these countries has started installing signiicant

amounts o photovoltaics in the year ollowing

the introduction o a tari, which has increased

consistently year on year.Japan, which had been a

world leader in PV capacity, displays the opposite

eect to this phenomenon once the 50% grant was

removed in 2005, the amount o annual installations

reached a plateau and began to all. Even with an

Fig.2 Installations per year for countries before and after feed in tariff introduction show dramatic impact of this

Courtesy: SEIA, EPIA, Worldwatch

Germany JapanSpain USA Italy SouthKorea

2007: Spain introduses feed in tariff,tariff revised in September 2008 duetotoo much demand

2005: Japan stopsincentive program,installations plateau

2004: Germany modifiesexistingtariff to far moreattractive incentive,growth booms

2007: Italy reorganises2005decree with morefavourable tariff

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2006: South Koreaintroducesariff

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Annual PV installations by country in MW


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established photovoltaic industry and many o the

bigger module manuacturers, Japan has yet to

recover to its 2005 levels.

Te USA principally aims to stimulate renewable

installations via the aorementioned Renewable

Portolio Standards and 30% Production ax Credits.

It has seen some success, with Caliornia and New

Jersey in particular installing large quantities o

photovoltaics thanks to their incentive schemes. Te

PC has been a key driver in this, but the uncertainty

o continued unding each year has had a negative

eect on solar jobs and installations. Te extension o

the tax credit in the 2009 Stimulus package or seven

years should alleviate this problem in the uture.

Legislators in Florida, Michigan, Vermont, Hawaii

and Illinois have all moved to introduce eed-in taris

in the last ew years.

In the wake o the success o Germany and

e of incentive.

France India Portugal ROW Other EU Belgium CzechRepublic

2005CzechRepublicintroduce sFiT, improvedinsubsequent years

2006: Francentroduces feedn tariff

2005: Portugalredesigns 2010 FiT


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Spains eed-in taris, the measure has increased

in po pula r i ty , wi th Onta r io , Swi tze r la nd ,

Greece, Caliornia, Israel and much o Australia

introducing comparable measures. he UK has

also introduced legislation, with the 2008 Energy

Act mandating a eed-in tari to be in place in

the UK by the start o 2010. O the new taris,

the Canadian province o Ontario looks the most

attractive, with attractive pricing or installations

under 10kW o 80c/kWh. I the tari is similar

to the drats seen, the annual cap o 10MW or

photovoltaics should be reached.

Conditions for a good tariff

he precondition o a successul tari is that

the price o the tari relects the local insolation

and product install price. As regions like Spain or

Caliornia receive as much as twice the amount o

sunlight over the course o the year than the UK or

Germany their tari can aord to be lower. I you

can produce twice as much power or the same cost

o panel, the price per unit generated decreases

proportionally to get a good payback time.

Assuming that the tari will be set a level

that relects the local insolation levels, there are

two main considerations besides price or a tari

that will enhance its success. Firstly, the incentive

should be consistent over a number o years, giving

stability or smaller investors in a way that market

driven systems do not. In addition any cap on

installations should be low enough so as to prevent

an unsustainable rush to install as seen in Spain, but

high enough that suicient demand is satisied to

grow the industry, something which grant systems dopoorly. I governments are serious about expanding

photovoltaic capacity, the cap or PV should be at

least several hundred megawatts a year in the long

term. A cap that grows incrementally each year as the

tari price decreases would be one way o ensuring

industry growth.

So i eed-in taris are so attractive, why have

some countries implementing them, such as Greece

and Italy, not seen installations on the scale o Spain

and Germany despite high insolation levels? Te key

stumbling block in these circumstances is typically

bureaucratic; i a panel is going to have a avorable

payback time but due to planning processes wont

be installed or eighteen months, companies become

a lot more reluctant to enter the market. France

is a good example o this eect, with hundreds o

megawatts o photovoltaics installed in the ground

by the end o 2008 not producing power due to

administration delays by the utility responsible or

connecting them to the electricity grid.

he access to grid connection and planning

permission queues should be accelerated to

prevent hold-ups through administration costs.

Grid connection is currently less a problem in

solar compared to wind due to the relatively smallquantities o capacity typically being installed. he

lower demand or grid access in sunny regions and

cities rather than traditional power corridors will

initially allow easy connection or many projects.

As the number o installations grows, this will likely

become less simple and steps will need to be made

that installations are not let unconnected as in

France.

Conclusion

More than anything, eed-in taris are successul

because they oer stability and guarantee in a ast-

moving climate. I structured well a eed-in tari can

give a payback time and rate o return avorable or

both homeowners and investors, making inancing

much easier. Smoothing the planning and grid

connection processes to make installations easier and

aster ensures the success o an incentive.

With the Spanish subsidy collapsing so much

compared to last year and prices alling rapidly, there

remains considerable upside or the governmentsimplementing avorable incentive policies. As

we move into the new decade, more inventory is

available at a lower price than ever beore, waiting

or a market. Feed-in taris introduced by the UK,

Ontario and states in America and Australia could all

reap the benets over the next two years.

>> Tomas Martin is a Solar Analyst for the Wind

Prospect Group, writer and researcher in Lithiatednanodiamond thermionics at Bristol University.


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The Urgency for PVDevelopment andNeeds of HCPVby Yingling Wang, I-Tao Lung, Cherg-Tsong Kuo

Th e c l i m a t e c h a n g i n g p r e s e n t s a

threatening subject or all mankind which

became the main topic in Copenhagen

climate summit. Almost all countries have

promised to reduce carbon dioxide emission rom

17% to 45%. Te conclusion is acceptable though not

satisied; however, the consensus brought about the

demand o photovoltaic urgently. able 1 listed below

has shown that there is trace carbon dioxide emission

rom photovoltaic power plant.

As habitants concerning the ate o earth, the

government o aiwan has boosted the development

o high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) system

in Institute o Nuclear Energy Research (INER)

rom 2003 which is much earlier than the climate

summit. Te main reasons o developing HCPV are

based on its high eiciency and high concentration

characteristics o the system. hereore, HCPV get

the highest potential to reduce the cost or power

generation amongst all PV systems.

As mentioned above, INER has been developing

the technology o HCPV since 2003, basically taking

the technology o irradiation detecting technology

applied to the III-V group photovoltaic cell. he

previous accomplishments are described as ollows.

he 100 kW high concentration photovoltaicsystem was established in the end o October, 2007.

he system is composed o 21 sets (each with 12

modules) o 1.5 kW roo-top and 14 sets (each

with 40 modules) o 5 kW pillar-stand (shown

as Figure1). his system was the biggest HCPV

demonstration system in aiwan beore 2008.

he eiciency o solar cell, abricated by INERcooperated with domestic epitaxy suppliers, reaches

up to 37.1% (shown as Figure 2), and is expected to

be improved to more than 40% in 2010.

32 patents have been acquired, and 93 invents areundertaken the patent application procedures. Te

Unit (Kg/kWh) Remark

Coal power plant 0.914

Oil power plant 0.601

LPG power plant 0.438

Taichung Photovoltaic

Power Plant 0.005

97,000 kWh generated per year, 60

tons of CO2 emission saved per year

CO2 emission

Power plant

Table 1 Carbon dioxide emission amount from miscellaneous power plants

Courtesy: Taipower Co., Taiwan

2

3

1


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HCPV industry in aiwan is thus supportively

established with plenty o patents.

he concentration module with 476 timesgeometric concentrating ratio has been

developed, and the highest module eiciency

is 27.2%, while that o the conventional silicon-

based module is approximately 13~15%. he

new algorithm and control mechanism have

been derived to increase the accuracy o tracking.

Presently, the tracking accuracy is0.3.

Nine i tems o technology transer andauthorization have been completed. he

technology includes 3 items o solar cell

manuacturing process and its characteristics

measurement technology, 4 items o CPV module

manuacturing and its characteristics technology,

and 2 items o CPV tracker manuacturing and its

characteristics detecting technology. wo items

o technology transer are under negotiation

presently. INER is aggressively pushing HCPV

to be industrialized, and promotes the new

generation o HCPV to be rooted domestically.

11 cases o technical service had been provided.he contents o the service were two cases

o high eiciency multi-junction solar cell

manuacturing and its characteristic testing, ive

cases o concentration module optical device and

its characteristic testing, one case o spectrum

response testing, and three cases o solar module

qualiication testing. Besides, there is one case o

technical service under executing. All these jobs

have greatly promoted the technology or the

domestic suppliers to the international HCPV eld.

INER has s igned the contract with ULcorporation o USA or assisting and reviewing

Courtesy: INER

Fig.1 100 kW HCPV System at INER (left 5 kW, pillar-stand 14 sets; right 1.5 kW, rooftop 21 sets)

Courtesy: INER

Fig.2 IV curve for cell

5

6

7

4


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the concentration module qualication capability

conorming with IEC 62108 in INER, and has

acquired international certiication in Oct.

2009, and can provide the qualiication service

or the domestic suppliers. his can reduce the

time required or the suppliers to pass the UL

certiication to gain the international market,

especially that o USA.

INER has built eight irradiation collectingstations unique in aiwan, which can gather

direct normal irradiance (DNI) and global solar

irradiance (GSI), also provide the real time

monitoring. he acquired data will work as a

reerence or investors to evaluate the easibility

o establishing the CPV plant.INER has established HCPV qualication centerat Kaohsiung Science Park in 2009 to execute

technology promoting, and provide module

qualiication service, which eectively help

the related supplier o the HCPV ield develop

the technology, and acquire the certiication to

compete internationally.

One MW HCPV demonstration system

which includes 21 sets o 5 kW and 120 sets

o 7.5 kW HCPV system has been completed

in the end o 2009 (see Figure 3). Tis is the

biggest HCPV demonstration system in Asia.

With abundant accomplishments above, INER

still speed up its eiciency enhancement and cost

reduction o HCPV system. he major eorts

recently are centered on two topics; one is increasing

the concentration ratio o the module, and the

other is enhancing the accuracy o the tracker. he

new style 900x concentration photovoltaic module

is manuactured with the technologies o high

perormance lens, and vacuum welding, and the

eciency is reached to 26.61% under outdoor testing

with 795 W/m2 DNI. he tracker is designed by

adapting digital signal technology to ilter the alse

signal o sun position sensor. he purpose o the

modiication will make the controller o the tracker

track sun according to the actual signal, and theaccuracy o the tracker is thus improved. Accordingly,

the accuracy o the tracker is enhanced to 0.2

degree.

Seeding on the eld o HCPV, INER demonstrates

the ruitul harvest above. Nevertheless, all past

eorts had become monument o green energy.

he biggest obstacle or HCPV still exists. rying

reducing the cost or the power generated by HCPV

is an issue to be conquered. Nonetheless, the step on

improvement o HCPV is a never ending story, and

continuously brings the whole world walk into solarenergy kingdom.

Courtesy: INERFig.3 MW HCPV plant

8

9

10


INDUSTRY NEWS


18/52


19/52

HCPV Industry Chain in Taiwan

B

A

C+D Module / SystemArima Eco Energy (s)

Everphoton (s)

CompSolar (s)

D SystemSpirox

Advanced Renewable Energy Inc. (AREi)

Top Tower Technology (3T)

Tranergy Technology

E TrackerArima Eco Energy

Everphoton

Spirox

CN-JT

CompSolar

Green Source Technology

Lytec Solar

C ModuleSolapoint (s)

Browave

B LensHokuang Optics

Prodisc

Ching Ming Shan Optronics

Kimoga

KIMOGA CO., LTD .

F Inverter

Powercom

Motech

A III-V Epi ChipArima

VPEC

M-Com

Solapoint

Epistar


INDUSTRY NEWS


20/52

Courtesy: Arima Eco Energy

Fig.5 The 300kW CPV power plant project installed by

Arima Eco Energy at ISFOC in Spain

TestingChroma

Institute of NuclearEnergy Research (INER)

ResearchCInstitute of NuclearEnergy Research (INER)

Industry TechnologyResearch Institute (ITRI)

Chung-Shan Institute ofScience & Technology (CSIST)

National Central University

EquipmentAixtron

Veeco


INDUSTRY NEWS



21/52

Can CPV Reach

Commercializaon?

by Nancy Hartsoch

Solar Deployments: Conversion

Efciency and CostIn just one hour, more solar energy is delivered

to the earths surace than it takes to power the entire

globe or a whole year. hat being said, eiciently

capturing, converting and delivering this energy is a

complex challenge requiring new technologies and

advances to existing technologies. A key ocus or

the PV industry has been reducing the amount o

expensive PV material used in a solar panel.

One such approach has been thin ilms, which

use materials such as amorphous silicon, cadmium

telluride or copper gallium indium diselenide

to capture sunlight energy. hin ilm costs have

shown signiicant advantage, but eiciency o

these systems is typically low. he result is useo larger land or lower energy generation rom

ixed areas o deployment. Another approach has

been Concentrator PV (CPV) which has gone the

opposite direction in terms o eciency.

CPV Technology

CPV systems use high eiciency compound

semiconductor technology to generate the highest

eiciency systems available in the market today

with cell eiciencies approaching 40%, more than

twice that o typical PV. Te basic premise is that the

optics in a concentrator system are signiicantly less

Article Published in InterPV Magazine, December 2009 Edition

Concentrator Photovoltaics (CPV) technology, which combines high efciency cells with low cost,

concentrating optical systems, is poised to enjoy a bright future in distributed generation and

large-scale power generation. Nancy Hartsoch, VP of SolFocus, explains how this solar technology

is earning its place in the sun through high energy yield.

Courtesy: SolFocus


INDUSTRY NEWS


INDUSTRY NEWS


22/52

Secondary Mirror

Solar Cell

Optical RodPrimary Mirror

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

CPV

Best Thin Film

Best PV

Typical PV

2009 2010 2011 2012

RatedEfficiency

expensive than PV cells. he less cell area used per

unit, the lower the overall cost o the system. With the

SolFocus CPV system, a multi-junction PV cell o 1

square centimeter is illuminated by the sun magniied

650 times. his means that the sunlight covering 650

square centimeters is collected and redirected onto a

single 1 square centimeter cell, thus dramatically cutting

the cost per unit o energy as compared to conventional

PV technologies. Figure 1 shows the SolFocus refective

optical system. It uses a primary mirror to collect the

sunlight, relecting it back to a secondary mirror and

then concentrating the sunlight on the high eiciency

solar cell at the base o the optical rod.

Understanding CPVs HighEnergy Yield

Panel eciency, energy prole, and temperature

perormance are all combined to provide the highest

energy yield in high solar resource regions.

High Efciency Systems

High concentration CPV systems provide the

highest eiciency o any solar technology available

today. hat means that when sunlight is captured,

a much larger amount o that sunlight is converted

into electricity. Figure 2 shows an example o the

conversion eiciencies or various PV technologies.

oday, leading CPV systems have around 25%

eiciency compared with typical PV at around 15%

eciency and thin lms with around 11% eciency.

Tere are two critical things to understand here. First,

today, eiciencies o CPV are dramatically higher

than other technologies. Second, the headroom or

uture advances in CPV technology are much higher

than or other technologies. Over the next three years,

CPV technologies could see another 25% o increase

in eciency. raditional silicon-based PV will not be

able to realize these types o gains as the technology is

approaching its theoretical limits.

Eciency matters a lot in these cases, as it is the

biggest driver or cost reduction. CPV will continue

to oer dramatic increase in eciency, thus, increase

in energy generation. Te technology will also benet

rom signicant cost reductions in manuacturing astodays small volume will ramp to signicant volume

in the next ew years. Other technologies are likely

going to see only modest gains in both eiciency

improvements and manuacturing cost reductions.

Consistent Energy Production

Another important element o high energy yield

is consistent energy production throughout the day.

Because CPV systems unction like telescopes, they

must track the sun accurately as it moves across the sky

rom sunup to sundown. o do so, high concentration

panels are mounted on dual-axis trackers. racking

Courtesy: SolFocus

Fig.1 Sunlight is collected by the primary mirror,

reected back to the secondary mirror, and thenis concentrated 650 times down the optical rod

and onto the high efciency solar cell

Fig.2 Comparison of panel efciencies for varioustechnologies

Courtesy: SolFocus


INDUSTRY NEWS


23/52

the sun throughout the day provides a much more

consistent energy production curve than ixed tilt

systems. Whereas solar technologies mounted in xed-

tilt positions have a daily energy production proile

resembling a curve which peaks mid-day and drops

o rapidly, dual-axis trackers enable CPV systems to

produce peak power levels starting in the early morning

and continuing until dusk. In Figure 3, the CPV energy

production curve has very broad shoulders compared

with traditional PV systems. he beneits o this daily

power prole actually extend beyond simply producing

more energy. Because CPV produces energy at a steady

rate throughout the day and the power production

remains at high levels during hours o peak demand

in the aternoon, tracking makes solar systems more

suitable to meet the demand proile o utility systems.When deployed in large volume, tracked CPV systems

operate similarly to intermediate natural gas power

plants starting early in the day and maintaining power

production until early evening hours.

High Performance at High Temperature

Degradation due to temperature is an important

perormance issue or PV technologies.

Silicon PV and thin-ilm PV operating in the

sunny regions o the world suer rom signiicant

perormance degradation as temperatures increase.

Tis is a characteristic inherent in materials used in

the technologies, not a relection on the PV panels

themselves. Figure 4 illustrates this point, but requires

some urther understanding.

wo actors come to play in understanding

temperature perormance when comparing PV

technologies. First, the rating system used or traditional

PV and thin lms is dierent rom that used or CPV.

PV panels are rated at a cell temperature o 20C with a

fash test. As soon as these panels are put on sun, the cell

temperature will be much higher so that rated level o

the panel will never be achieved when placed in the sun.

CPV panels are rated at 20C o ambient temperature

not cell temperature. hereore, when these panels are

put on the sun in a 20C o ambient environment, they

will perorm at their rated level.

Beyond the dierence in rating systems, CPVsystems have a temperature coeciency less than hal o

the typical coeciency or silicon PV (-0.21% or CPV

compared with -0.48% or poly Si PV). Figure 4 shows

that in an operating environment o 40C, poly-si PV

will be operating at less than 80% o its rated level, and

thin-lm at around 89% o its rated level. In the case o

a CPV panel rated at 300 watts, you would get 300 W o

power rom that panel at 20C, and 288 W o power i

temperatures hit 40C. For poly-si panels, at 20C, the

panel which was purchased at a 300 W rating would

only be producing around 260 W, and that would drop

to less than 240 W as temperatures reached 40C.

Courtesy: SolFocus

Fig.3 Shown above is the energy production curve for a

typical day at a power plant in Puertollano, Spain

owned and operated by ISFOC. The CPV systems

reach peak production early in the morning, and

continue at a steady rate until sundown.

Fig.4 Comparison of CPV technology utilizing

high-efciency multi-junction PV cells withMono-Si, Poly-Si and thin-lm PV technologies.CPV suffers from very little performance

degradation even at temperature of 40C.

Courtesy: SolFocus

7.0

6.0

5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0

-1.0

05:

00

06:

00

07:

00

08:

00

09:

00

10:

00

11:

00

12:

00

13:

00

14:

00

15:

00

16:

00

17:

00

18:

00

19:

00

20:

00

21:

00

22:

00

SolFocus CPV Typical PV FIxed Tilt

ACOutputPower[kW]

Puertollano, Spain. May 2009

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

100%

CPV Mono-SiPV Poly-SiPV Thin-Film

Actual Power compared to Rated Power

Rated Power

Power@40C Ambient

Power@20C Ambient

RatedEfficiency


INDUSTRY NEWS


24/52

his is very critical in understanding and

orecasting energy yields rom a plant. Energy output

per megawatt will be signiicantly higher or CPV

than or any other PV technology.

High Yielding Power Plants

When you combine the high eciency, consistent

energy production, and perormance at high

temperature, CPV oers dramatically higher energy

generation. Figure 5 provides a comparative example

o a 10 megawatt power plant utilizing typical PV,

thin lm, and CPV technology. Te chart also shows

that energy production in various geographies.Te chart brings light to a very important element

o CPV technology: it requires direct sunlight. Since

the optics unction as telescopes, they can only

capture and utilize that sunlight which shines directly

on the concentrator. Diused and indirect sunlight

cannot be used by CPV systems, making CPV

technology ideally suited to those regions o the world

where the solar resource is high. Such areas rom a

general perspective include the Southwest US, parts

o Asia, southern Europe, Australia, northern Arica,

South Arica, and parts o Latin America. In Figure 5,

a 10 MW power plant in a high solar resource region

like Chile would generate nearly 80% more energy

utilizing CPV technology than it would by using

traditional PV. On the other hand, in moderate solar

resource area such as Spain, CPV would still produce

more energy, but not as much as in higher direct

sunlight areas. For CPV, it is important that plants be

located where the solar resource is at its highest. In

this case, the energy yield advantages are extremely

signicant.

CPV at the Megawatt Scale

One o the irst signiicant deployments o CPV

technology was in Castilla la Mancha, Spain in 2008-2009. Under the Spanish Ministry o Education and

Science program, Instituto de Systemas Fotovoltaico

de Concentration (ISFOC), a 3 MW CPV installation

has been developed using a variety o CPV

technologies. In addition to producing large amounts

o power, the project provides crucial perormance

and reliability testing or these new technologies.

hese installations are not limited to power plants,

they have become the proving ground or this

innovative new technology.

Systems manuactured by SolFocus, Concentrix

and Isooton, were the irst to be installed in the

Courtesy: SolFocus

Fig.5 Example of a 10 MW Power Plant

in various locations around the

world. Demonstrates the energy

generation differences for those

technologies at given levels of

DNI (Direct Normal Insolation).

Fig.6 The chart above shows the energy output per month per ar-

ray from November 2008 to August 2009 together with the

cumulative solar irradiation recorded over the period. The

energy produced was 103% of predicted energy under nor-

mal operations. The chart shows data under normal operat-

ing conditions. Data collected during engineering testing or

when DNI measurements were inaccurate were excluded.

This occurred particularly in January and February.

Courtesy: SolFocus

SolFocus-CPV

Avg Si PV-Fixed Tilt

Thin Film-Fixed Tilt

40,000

35,000

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0Jaen, Spain(DNI 5.5)

Alice Spring,Australia(DNI 7.2)

Daggett, CA(DNI 7.5)

Calama, Chile(DNI 9.8)

M

egaattHours

Monthly Energy Produced, Energy Predicted, DNI

Best PVEnergy Produced Per Array

Energy Predicted Per A

Nov-08

Dec-08

Jan-09

Feb-

09

Mar

-09

May-09

May-09

Jun-09

Jul-0

9

Aug-09

900,000

800,000

700,000

600,000

500,000

400,000

300,000200,000

100,000

-EnergyProducedperArray

perMonth[Wh]

RecordedDN

IperMonth[W/m2]


INDUSTRY NEWS


25/52

project. he SolFocus installations include a 200

kW plant in Puertollano and a 300 kW plant in

Almoguera. In total, 87 SolFocus arrays were installed

in 2008. (Note: the arrays installed in 2008 were

the irst generation SolFocus SF-1000 systems with

a rated power o 6.2 kW per array compared with

systems being sold today with a rated power o 9.24

kW per array.)

With this project at Puertollano having been grid

connected or over a year, the company has been able

to complete perormance analysis. Te results provide

evidence that CPV technology is able to produce

energy as orecasted. Figure 6 shows that energyproduced was 103% o predicted energy output under

normal operations. Tis is a signicant achievement

or CPV.

Bright Future for CPV

Its clear that when it comes to solar energy,

there is no solar silver bullet. All technologies bring

advantages to given applications and geographies.

When compared to other PV technologies in regions

with high direct sunlight, CPV brings a number o

advantages than other PV technologies including

higher eiciencies, higher energy yield, and lower

energy cost.

Increasingly, solar technologies are also being

evaluated or the sustainability o its manuacturing

and land use. CPV systems oer the lightest

environmental ootprint o all solar technologies.

Another growing solar technology is Concentrating

Solar Power (CSP), sometimes called solar thermal

solutions. CSP is also targeted to the high solar

resource regions. Depending on the application,however, CPV oers a number o advantages. I

there is a limited supply o water in the region (CSP

consumes up to 1000 gallons o water per megawatt

hour), environmental constraints around land use, or

protection o existing eco systems, then CPV is highly

advantaged compared with CSP. Or, i the plant size

is less than 100 MW or needs to be deployed rapidly,

CPV can provide capability not available with CSP.

Te opportunity or solar as a renewable energy

source is huge and the uture or CPV is very bright.

he key is in continuing to progress down the

commercialization path with highly reliable products

that meet the industrys stringent certiications and

can be manuactured at low cost in high-volume

actories. oday, there are several suppliers o CPV

that are at this stage and 2010 should ind more

moving down that curve.

POWER UNIT:Each CPV powerunit is comprisedof a CassegrainImaging Concentratorincluding primarymirror and secondarymirror, a receiverwhich incorporates atertiary non-imagingoptic a multi-junctionPV cell, and heatspreader.

CPV PANEL:

Multiple power units(20 in the SolFocusSF-1100 system)are integrated into apanel with electricalinterconnection.Power units areenclosed between analuminum "backpan"and front glass.

CPV ARRAY:The basic system, thearray, is a parquetof 28 panels sittingon a at frame, atopa two axis trackerand producing 9.24kWDC at 850 W/m2 direct irradiance.The tracker sitson a pedestal andfollows the sunto an accuracy ofapproximately 0.10.

>> Nancy Hartsoch is Vice President at SolFocus(www.solfocus.com).

Courtesy: SolFocus

Anatomy of SolFocus CPV System

SecondaryMirror

HighEfciencySolar Cell

(at base ofoptical rod)

Optical Rod

PrimaryMirror


INDUSTRY NEWS


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Taiwan PhotovoltaicIndustry Overviewby Angel Chiou

Taiwan photovoltaic industry revenueaces recession through upstream to

downstream in 2009 due to the infuence

o global downturn. he total revenue

shrinks to ND 86.9 billion in 2009 with negative

growth rate at 18% comparing with that in 2008

(see Figure 1). Te majority o revenue comes rom

midstream waer-based and thin-ilm solar cells,which take approximately 70% revenue share o the

industry by ND 60.7 billion. Among all, waer-based

solar cell manuacturing brings a production value o

ND 59.3 billion.

Upstream silicon ingot & waer and mid-to-

downstream module and system installation

Fig.1 Revenue of Taiwan PV industry grew negatively in 2009 but is estimated to exceedNTD 100 billion this year.

Courtesy: PIDA, 2010/1


INDUSTRY NEWS


27/52

take only 26% and 2% share o the total revenue

respectively. Upstream silicon ingot & waer though

represents a decline o revenue still reaches ND 23

billion. In 2010, since the economy began recovery,

photovoltaic industry is estimated to have an over

23% growth to reach ND 110 billion.

o see rom a perspective o PV technologies,

crystalline silicon solar cell plays the role o the

biggest support or aiwan PV industry revenue.

he economic turmoil led to a dramatic price

decline in crystalline silicon earlier last year,making the advantage o thin-ilm solar cells as

lower cost to be in vain. Although thin-ilm and

CIGS solar cells had put into production since last

year, there were not much helpul or the revenue

in total.

he annual capacity o aiwan crystalline

silicon solar cells reached 2,887 MW in 2009,

growing 58% rom the previous year, as Figure 2

shows. Since aiwan PV players move westward

to establish sites in China, 15% o the capacity

(approximately 710 MW) is generated in China.

PIDA analysts expect aiwan crystalline silicon

companies to reach an overall production capacity

o 4,417 MW as o 2010 with the growth rate up to

60%.

On the other hand, the capacity o aiwan

crystalline silicon PV modules grows 49% to reach

1,016 MW in 2009, and is orecasted to urther grow

45% in 2010 to reach 1,477 MW. Among all, capacity

produced by aiwan companies in China takes 37%

share o the total amount (see Figure 3).

In the irst hal o 2009, aiwan PV players

enhanced their R&D ability amid the nancial crisisand launched high eiciency single-/poly- crystal

silicon solar cells. According to estimation, the

gross proit margin o high eiciency single-/poly-

crystal silicon solar cells would increase by 5% than

conventional solar cells, and the proportion also

continue rise since 2010.

Since the global economy again goes steady

along with the extension o solar subsidies

worldwide, PIDA orecasts an optimistic 58%growth

o global PV market this year. Revenue o aiwan

PV industry as a whole would also grow 23% toreach ND 110 billion.


Fig.2 Taiwan Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell Capacity

Unit: MW

Taiwan China

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

2008 2009 2010

85

370

710

1,742

2,517

3,70785

370

710

1,742

2,517

3,707

Unit: MW

Taiwan China

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2008 2009 2010

150

530

250

766

540

987

Unit: MW

Taiwan China

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

2008 2009 2010

85

370

710

1,742

2,517

3,70785

Fig.3 Taiwan Crystalline Silicon PV Module Capacity



INDUSTRY NEWS


28/52

2001/110 kWp

2003/370 kWp

2009/9 MWp

2010/11.6 MWp

2012/60 MWp

2011/35 MWp

To comply with the governmentspromotion of green energyand policy of domestic demandexpansion, the Solar Power Planlaunched by Taipower expects toreach 10 MW in 2011.

2005/980 kWpMOEA's Remote AreasEmergency Project

Keelung Islet 4.4 kWp

Hsinchu Branch of LivestockResearch Institute

Solar Agriculture

2007/2 MWp

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001 Energy Commission grantedfull subsidy of PV installation togovernment building projects.

2002/230 kWp

Taipei Water Department 6.48 kWp

2004/500 kWpSolar Citywas put into practiceby the Bureau of Energyaccording to the Planning andImplementation of the Challenge2008 National Development Plan.

Liudai Hakka Cultural Park

2006/1.3 MWpSolar Campus

2008/5 MWpSolar Community

Taiwan Solar Power Installation &Roadmap

Courtesy: Photovoltaics Technology Center, ITRI/Edited by PIDA


INDUSTRY NEWS


29/52

Courtesy: PIDA

Photovoltaic IndustryCluster in Taiwanby PIDA

The photovoltaic (PV), or solar cell industryin aiwan has been developing vigorously

in recent companies are devoted or

planning to invest in mid stream or

down stream solar cell products , applications or

related accessories industries. hereore,

the entire industry supply chain

was established and the

industry cluster was also strengthened. he annualcapacity o the solar cell industry has made aiwan

one o the top ve solar cell manuacturing country

in the world. O all the PV suppliers in aiwan, theres

a trend o suppliers gathering in the science parks

to exploit the synergy and collaboration o the

vertically integrated clusters, as shown in

Figure1.

Fig.1 Taiwan PV

clusters in science parks(thin-lm & CPV included)

Central Taiwan Science Park

Southern Taiwan Science Park

Hsin-Chu Science Park


INDUSTRY NEWS


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31/52

team has realized the eciency to 18.7% and 17.3%

on mono- and multi-Si cells, respectively. Gintech

started to provide Douro, a polycrystalline silicon

solar cell with a conversion eiciency o 16.6% in

2009. Te new cell measures 156 x 156mm, and the

substrate is 180 to 200m thick. Gintech is currently

selling its cells in 42 categories with conversion

eiciencies rom 15 to 17%. In addition to the

polycrystalline silicon cell, Gintech enhanced the

conversion eiciency o its monocrystalline silicon

solar cell to 17.1% or higher on average by improving

the manuacturing process.

Color Solar Cell from Manufactures

Another interesting product is rom LOF SOLAR,

which has developed the irst ever high eiciency

color solar cell in the world. he company claimedto have conversion eciency is 30% higher than the

competitor's products. Its C-Cell color solar cells are

now available in green, purple, red, gray, and etc.

With LOF's patented nano technology, the C-Cell

conversion eiciency can reach beyond 15% and

has been conrmed by the Fraunhoer ISE (Institute

or Solar Energy) in Germany. And their lie time is

comparable to the traditional blue solar cells, easily

passing 25 years. In the past, the monochrome color

o these cells inhibited its use in aesthetic design. As

a response to the traditional monochrome solar cells,

LOF's colorized solar cells do not hamper conversion

eiciency, and its design can be combined with the

exterior hues o buildings and houses, to enhance

color coordination.

Meanwhile, Gintech also announced in 2009 to

provide green, purple, grey and silver color solar cells

with transer eiciency as high as 16%. he leading

PV company Motech Solar is tapping into the color

solar cell market as well, it provided sample with

eciency between 12% to 15%.

2bas-bar 3bas-bar

Size 156mmx156mm0.5mm

Thickness 180~200m30m

Gap 75mm 52mm

Widthof frontelectrode

2.0mm 1.5mm

Width

of backelectrode 4.0mm 3.0mm

Courtesy: Gintech

Courtesy: PIDA

Fig.3 6 inch high efciency poly solar cell from Gintech

Fig.4 LOF SOLAR provides color solar cells in green, purple, red, gray


INDUSTRY NEWS


32/52

PV Rush

by PIDA

TSMC Expecting Revenue Growthby Entering Energy Industry

aiwan Semiconductor Manuacturing Co, the

worlds largest contract chip maker by revenue,

makes big progress aer a string o moves to enter

the industry.

Last June, ormer Chie Executive Oicer Rick

sai, who was appointed in 2005, was transerred

to the companys New Business Development

Organization. Serving as president, Mr. sai will

ocus on the growth markets including solar and

light-emitting diode (LED). SMC hopes new

businesses could add US$2 billion in revenue/year by 2018, which would put the company in a

completely dierent valuation class.

wo months later, SMC approved a budget o

US$50 million or solar energy-related investments.

Around the same time, according to a report

in the local newspaper Commercial imes, the

pure-play oundry bought a portion o the stake,

approximately 11.2%, in Neo Solar Power, a aiwan-

based solar cell maker, through its venture capital

ailiate Ventureech Alliance. Although, a source

said in the story, the holdings are not high enough

to warrant a disclosure to the watchdog aiwan

Stock Exchange (SE), it underscores the companys

eorts to diversiy into the solar market.

Since then, speculations about SMCs next

acquisition o another solar cell manuacturer

become rampant in the market. hose names that

were alleged in talks with SMC included Motech

Industries, aiwans largest solar cell manuacturer,

E-on Solar ech, the islands second largest solar

cell maker, and etc.

In December, 2009, SMC announced to

purchase a 20% stake in Motech at a cost o

approximately US$193 million. By becoming

the single largest shareholder in Motech, SMCentered the solar market ast. Te company said the

investment would allow it now to be better placed to

evaluate its uture solar strategy.

Most analysts thought it a good deal as Motech

takes the lead in the industry and has a competitive

edge. Also, although the new business would

contribute to SMC at less than 1 percent o its total

revenues o N$364 billion in 2010, it helps the

company catch up the green energy trend.

It happens that there is a similar case. Last

August, while SMC was visiting several solar

cell companies or potential alliance, United

In Taiwan, over the past few quarters, just about all the major players in the

semiconductor industry have drawn up plans to rush into the solar industry with

the type of precision technology and manufacturing techniques that can maximizeproduction and efciency given that both are based on silicon wafer. Among all,

manufacturing giants demonstrate the most overwhelming ambition.


INDUSTRY NEWS



33/52

Microelectronics Corp, a major competitor to SMC,

created a business development center and venture

capital und called UMC New Business Investment

Corp to invest in the solar and LED sectors.

UMC Marching in China SolarMarket

According to the other local newspaper

Economic Daily News, UMC became the irst

oundry to step in planning to enter the mainland

China as it applied to Shandong government to set

up a handul o projects with regard to solar and

LED. Te total investment amount reached as highas US$300 million.

In the last two months o 2009, UMC set up

several green investments in China, including a

photovoltaic system company in Shandong Province

through its Hong Kong-based ailiate with US$1

million, and the other two LED investments. UMC

Chairman Stan Hung vowed to build the largest

solar and LED manuacturing base within fve years.

In act, UMC has deployed the green energy

industry, solar and LED in particular, without

being noticed or a couple o years. In 2005, it

established NexPower echnology Corp, a thin flm

PV manuacturer in aiwan, to make a study o

product development, research and development,

and manuacturing or the photovoltaic industry.

Starting 2008, NexPower threw itsel into volume

production and expected to operate its plant at a

rate o 12.5MW per year. he company hopes to

expand production volume gradually to reach an

ultimate production goal o 100MW/year rom that

point.

AUO Established AET to ProvideSystem Integration Services

On the other hand, AU Optronics Corp, aiwans

biggest liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker

who ocuses on thin-ilm solar, planned its solar

business as well. Last May, AUO created AUO Energy

aiwan Corp (AE), which will provide its customers

with integrated technical supports in energy system.

AE President Max Cheng hoped to do more by

oering more extensive value-added services in the

uture such as installation o solar energy systems

and other renewable energy sources or industrial

acilities, company buildings and households.

Currently, AE participates in relevant solar energy

projects in aiwan and around the world with its

system providers.

Aside rom spin-o decision, AUOs board

o directors approved a preliminary plan to

subscribe new shares to be issued by M.Setek, a

major polysilicon and monocrystal silicon waers

manuacturer in Japan. he investment cost AUO

US$125 million, which was interpreted as an

aggressive attempt to diversiy into the green energy

industry, but AUO said it will eventually purchasemore than 50 percent o M. Setek shares in the uture.

Moreover, AUO is allegedly considering

purchasing 50MWp o solar cells rom E-on in 2010.

E-on President Allen Guo said both are indeed

in talks with each other on uture plan. He didnt

reveal more details but said that he expected to ink

agreement or cooperation once the deal is done.

According to industry sources, E-on is a

major buyer o M.Setek, whose 15% stake is owned

by AUO, so AUO might be paving the way or a

possible cooperation. Te sources also commented

that by securing part o E-ons capacity, AUO will

not only complete its supply chain by seize the

opportunity to take the lead.

A Trend Worldwide

A similar trend is taking place in other

countries in Asia, as well as in the U.S, making

the competition more and more intensive. Earlier

last year, semiconductor equipment maker okyo

Electron Ltd. partnered with Sharp Corp. to work onnew tools development or solar cell manuacturing.

Its principal rival, Applied Materials, broke ground

on a new US$60 million actory in Singapore.

National Semiconductor introduced its irst

solar product in last June; Intel Corp. announced to

invest US$38 million into a German solar company;

IBM Corp. gave itsel into the business to team

up with a Japanese company to develop new solar

technologies; even Hewlett-Packard Co. recently

licensed its transparent transistor technology to a

Silicon Valley company who promises to make solar

panels twice as ecient and hal as expensive.


INDUSTRY NEWS


INDUSTRY NEWS


34/52

Photonics as Solution to Global Warming the 15

thIOA Meeting in Taiwan

by Angel Chiou

other countr ies are doing this

business.

h i s y e a r , t h e c o n s o r t i u m

i s g o i n g t o o c u s o n t w o

topics: 1. production trends in

optoelectronics/ activity reports oeach organization; 2. uture growth

areas in optoelectronics/ technology

roadmap activities. Representatives

rom each participant countries

will share their activity reports

and discuss activities in the uture

with other members to exchange

and to stimulate inventive ideas.

h e te c h no lo g y r o a dma p wi l l

identiy the R&D eorts which will

develop the photonic technologies

most likely to make the greatest

contribution to the society, and

The 15th Annual Meeting

o th e I nte r na t io na l

O p t o e l e c t r o n i c s

As s o c ia t io n i s g o ing

to be held in aiwan during June

9th

to 11th

by Photonics Industry& e c h n o l o g y D e v e l o p m e n t

Association (PIDA).

Started 1996, members o the

Internat ional Optoelectronics

Association meet up every year

in hope to contribute to world

community through the advance

o photonic technologies . he

w o r k s h o p p a r t i c i p a n t s g i v e

discussion to details o market,

production trends and hot topics,

as well as update the participant

organizations activities to see how

also will show the projected path

o the technologies to market as

seen by experts consulted rom

across the globe. he roadmap will

be disseminated to governments,

industry and academia to aligntheir eorts in implementing the

roadmap objectives.

his years representatives in the

IOA Annual Meeting include 11

photonics-related associations all over

the world. A brie introduction o

each is as ollow.

SOA

Scottish OptoelectronicsAssociation

SOA is a member o the UK wide



35/52

COMPANY PROFILE

All photos are courtesy of KAPID.

dissemination work packages. In

particular, EPIC supervised the design

and management of effective and

interactive website used for the MONA

roadmapping project, which includes the

edition of newsletters, the organization

of workshops, and the dissemination ofproject-related information.

Optech

he Opech-Net e .V. is an

industry driven network o optical

and photonic companies, research

institutes and universities in Germany.

he main goals are to asten the

transer o research results into new

products or production technologies

and to strengthen the visibility

organizations: UK Consortium o

Photonics and Optics and the UK

Photonics and Plastic Electronics

Knowledge ranser Network. Within

these networks, SOA is amiliar

with all Photonics activities in the

UK. SOA has also had abundantexperience leading co-ordination

projects or Scottish Enterprise and

UK government agencies.

EPICEuropean PhotonicsIndustry Consortium

EPICs main tasks in this project

are organization of roadmapping

workshops, knowledge management and

dissemination. EPIC has considerable

experience in delivering effective

and competitiveness o German

companies and universities.

SLNSwisslaser Net

SLN has been initiated by Swiss

research institutes and industries in

2005 in order to improve networking

leading to a quicker and more ecient

innovation process. SLN is unded by

Swiss government and membership

ees and is recognized by the SwissCI as an oicial R&D consortium.

SLN is nationally and internationally

well networked and is member

o EPIC, OIDA, IOA, NCCR QP,

OptEH, among others.

KAPIDKorean Associationfor Photonics IndustryDevelopment

he Korean Association or

Photonics Industry Development

(KAPID) is a non-prot organization

that makes a progress in LED,

photovoltaics with Green New Deal,

low-carbon green growth strategy by

governments ultimate object which

include new regenerated energy, green

energy by installation o LED light in

public institution, LED light modelingproject.

PIDAPhotonics Industry &Technology DevelopmentAssociation

P I D A w o r k s w i t h p r i v a t e

enterprises and government agencies

to increase the competitiveness o

aiwans optoelectronics industry.

PIDA actively engages in industry

OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q133OPTOLINK International Edition 2009 Q333

EXHIBITION WATCH


36/52

on building competitive industries

through global integration, human

capital development, productiveand lexible workplace relations

practices, inrastructure development

and innovation. Ai Group is closely

ailiated with more than 50 other

employer groups in Australia alone

and directly manages a number o

those organizations.

IMS-NRC

Institute forMicrostructural SciencesNational Research Councilof Canada

IMS-NRC accomplishes this role

by working at the leading edge o

science and technology that will enable

the inormation revolution to continue

and while doing so, provide Canadian

industry with a competitive advantage.

Having established its reputation bydeveloping technologies that underpin

the inormation and communication

sector, IMS-NRC has moved to

broaden its sphere o infuence by using

the same know-how to solve problems

in other application areas.

OITDAOptoelectronic Industry

and TechnologyDevelopment Association

he Japan-based non-proit

research, conerence, exhibition,

membership service, international

c o o p e r a t i o n , a n d p r o d u c i n gpublications or the optoelectronics

industry. he association has been

organizing OPO aiwan exposition

since 1984. Now PIDA is the organizer

o Display aiwan and Photonics

Festival in aiwan which comprising

o exhibitions and conerences o

OPO aiwan, LED Lighting aiwan,

OPICS aiwan, Solar aiwan.

OIDAOptoelectronics IndustryDevelopment Association

OIDA is a Washington DC-based

promotes optoelectronics. OIDA serves

as the voice o industry to government

and academia, acts as liaison with other

industry associations worldwide, and

provides a network or the exchange

o ideas and inormation within theoptoelectronics community. Tis year,

OIDA launched a new conerence,

OPOmism Powering the Green

Revolution through Photonics. his

three-day event consists o an Executive

& Investor Forum ollowed by a two-

day, three-track echnical Conerence.

Ai Group

Australian Industry Group

Ai Group is a leading industry

association in Australia ocusing

association OIDA actively conducts

a wide range o activities, such as

research and study, promoting andsupporting technology development,

and urthering standardization. It

also makes active eorts to spread

and raise awareness o optoelectronic

technology worldwide, through

cooperating with optoelectronics

industry associations in Europe, the

United States and Asia.

HKOEAHong Kong OptoelectronicsAssociation

he gathering o representatives

rom the member countries intends

to create international consensus on

a research roadmap that ocuses on

disruptive technology advances in

photonics that can contribute to thecontrol o global climate change by

reducing GHG emissions.

As usual, the workshop is held in

conjunction with regional photonics

meetings. Since PIDA is the host o

this year, the Annual Meeting o IOA

will take place concurrently with

Photonics Festival in aiwan which

comprises expositions o OPO, LED

Lighting, Solar, and Optics, together

making June a splendid photonicsmonth.

34 OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q134 OPTOLINK International Edition 2009 Q3

EXHIBITION WATCH


37/52

P36_Neo Solar Power: Aggressive Expansion for Uprising PV Market

P38_AUO Solar the Trusted Name in Future PV Industry

P40_Gintech Prospers After the Storm

P42_Kinmac Solar: Cultivating Sustainable Environment through Photovoltaic Energy

P44_Motech Power: Power the World with Solar Energy

SOLAR


38/52

Neo Solar Power:

Aggressive Expansionfor Uprising PV Market

With optimism towards the soaringPV market, Dr. Qunicy Lin, the

chairman o NSP, is leading a team o

inter-disciplinary experts to push the

production capacity o NSP to another height to get

ahead o competitors in a new year.

echnology, Quality and Customer Services are

the three core competences o NSP, said Lin when

being asked about the competing strategy o NSP, in

an interview with Photonics Industry & echnology

Development Association (PIDA) in early 2010.

According to Lin, NSP was ounded in December

2005 with a vision o providing clean and renewable

energy or mankind. In doing this, NSP aims to be

a leading solar cell manuacturer specializing in

research, development, and manuacturing o high

eciency solar cells.

Technology Advancement

Leveraging PV device physics & semiconductor

process technology enable us to enter the market withthe shortest learning curve, thereby creating solar cells

with high conversion eciency, said Lin. In order to

compete in a dynamic changing marketplace, NSP

urther provides technical supports in the ull range

o process optimization to match customer product

characteristics. NSP uses technological advances

at ield to reduce module power lose and improve

production yield. Additionally, NSP's experienced

engineering team is available to work with customer

design and engineering teams to develop innovative

solutions to meet demands in the dynamic market.

Tis ensures that the best materials and processes are

used in the development o customer's products.

NSP is making much progress in launching new

products, such as the Super Cell & Perect Cell.

For example, Lin noted that Super Cell leads the

industry with 16.8 % conversion eciency o multi-

crystalline solar cells in mass production. NSPs R&D

team develops the patented process technology with

by PIDA

Fig.1 Fab 1 and Fab 2 of NSP

Courtesy: NSP


COMPANY PROFILE


39/52

COMPANY PROFILE

years o industry experiences in

process improvement, material

sourcing, and quality control.

his not only enhances the cell

eiciency but also consequently

reduces power losses ater module

lamination. With Super Cell, NSP is

able to achieve high eiciency or solar

panels more than 240W, minimum power loss/

breakage rate, consistent color uniormity, greater

solderability; and RoHS compliance.

On the mono-crystalline ront, NSP demonstrates

its capability with Perect Cell. Lin described the

eature o Perect Cell as unprecedented. raditionally156mm mono-crystalline solar waers are pseudo-

square with the corners being cut o. he cut-o

corners result in a smaller area rom which solar cells

and panels can capture sunlight. On the other hand,

NSPs certiied Perect Cell shows module-makers

the ability to increase power density by more than 3%

and has an average conversion eiciency o 17.8%.

With NSPs technology advancement, Perect Cell

oers extremely low light induced degradation with

superior output that can easily exceed 250W.

Lin pointed out that, With its superior power

generation perormance and homogeneous dark

appearance, Perect Cell provides a perect choice

or system integrators to serve in both roo-top

installations and BIPV application.

Aggressive Expansion Plan

Lin expected the solar demand to be urther

ueled by the global expectation on energy

conservation and greenhouse emission reduction.

hereore, NSP has laid out a capacity expansionto boost 2010 capacity rom 240MW to 600MW,

which is the largest among aiwan Peers. Being the

most proactive company among peers on expansion,

NSP estimates a 400~500MW shipment in 2010,

representing a 100~150% increase rom the 200MW

orecasted shipment in 2009.

Upon ramp-up o 2010 capacity expansion, NSPs

total capacity will surpass 600MW. As it continues

push up shipment scale, NSP aims to step up as global

ier 1 solar manuacturer, not only demonstrating

the operating commitment o its management team

but also raising entry barrier o new competitors.

A Bright Future

As or now, NSPs strategy

pays o, according to its recent

inancial report, total revenues in 2009

were N$10.301 billion. Solar cell shipment volume

reached a record high at 201.09MW, representing

a 97% increase rom that in 2008 and rounding an

average monthly shipment volume o 25.6MW in

4Q09. Furthermore, monthly revenue in January 2010

was N$976 million, an increase o approximately73% rom the same period in 2009, maintaining the

capacity utilization rate at the peak level. Driven

by the strong order low, the overall perormance

in 1Q10 is still expected to be maintained at peak

level. Lin noted that, with the contribution o

new production capacities, NSP is well prepared

or a strong global demand in 2010, and expects

concurrent increases in revenue and prot.

All About Policy

Meanwhile, Lin still calls or governments help

in cultivating the aiwan PV industry. In the past,

Europe has been the major PV market due to eed-

in taris and other incentives rom several countries

in the EU. he U.S government provides incentives

such as tax credit, with eed-in tari expected to be

implemented in Caliornia and Florida. Lin pointed

out that although Korea

has a slow start on PV

technology; some big

names in Korea arecatching up ast and

mounting a threat to

aiwan manuacturers.

he government s

p o l i c y c o u l d h a v e

great inluences on the

development o aiwan

PV industry, said Lin,

he is looking orward

t o a s t r o n g p o l i c y

guided by the aiwangovernment.

COMPANY PROFILE

Courtesy: AUO

Classic Cells High performance cells

19.0%

18.0%

17.0%

17.74

18.0

19.0

18.5

17.8

18.5

EfficiencyMono-Si cell (156x156mm)

2009 2010 2011

Courtesy: NSP

Fig.3 Technology Roadmap

Fig.

optolink international edition 2010 q1 issue

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