Taiwan tipped to expand PV capacity
While over-capacity continues to plague the global PV industry, the Taiwan PV industry is operating at high-capacity. Taiwan PV manufacturers are expected to capitalize on their competitive advantages in crystalline silicon cells and modules and the punitive duties placed on Chinese products in the U.S., while expanding their global role in thin-film technologies, balance of systems and other sectors of solar industry. These industry dynamics will be on display at PV Taiwan.
As the PV manufacturing equipment industry begins recover from record lows, it will be at the beginning of long-term growth cycle and will be a major contributor to energy independence. On the supply side, Taiwan is the second-largest PV manufacturing base worldwide, with a 17 percent market share in PV cell production. Last year, China and Taiwan, the two major dominating regions, together produced over 70 percent of the world's PV cells and held more than 50 percent market share in both C-Si cells and modules production capacity. On the demand side, Asia is expected to stimulate a strong year-end surge in PV demand, according to a recently published research from NPD Solarbuzz. On the other hand, according to IMS Research, a 20 GW opportunity is forecasted for the upgrade or replacement of existing capacity over the next four years. With that, SEMI Taiwan forecasts that the re could be a 2.5~3GW opportunity in Taiwan, mostly through upgrade or replacement of existing PV fabs and equipment.
"With a promising upside ahead, PV Taiwan 2012 brings the excitement of expanding business opportunities globally by organizing an international buyer program for finding business partners and prospects," said Terry Tsao, president of SEMI Taiwan and Southeast Asia. "PV Taiwan continues to promote the development of the PV industry and helps the supply chain stay competitive in times of economic uncertainty."
"With a stable supply chain network with products ranging from various silicon products to solar modules, Taiwan has emerged as one of the manufacturing centers for PV products especially in Asia Pacific region" said Dr. P.H. Chang, CEO of Motech. "With combination of key forums and exhibition, PV Taiwan is a premier event and one-stop-sourcing and learning platform for the global PV industry to showcase the latest trends and technology, access business partners and encourage the procurement of high-quality PV products."