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Solar cell production soaring globally

The production capacity of the global solar cell industry has increased rapidly since 2000, and total annual output is estimated to reach 2.82 gigawatts in 2010 with a value of US$4.23 billion, according to a report released by the government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) on Saturday.

An ITRI official said that as the demand for solar energy has continued to grow at a more rapid pace, the industry registered a compound annual growth rate of 37.5 percent during the 2000 to 2003 period, with the figure hitting 60.5 percent for the 2003 to 2004 period.

He added that global annual production of photovoltaic cells reached 1.727 gigawatts last year, marking growth of 45 percent.

The official said that compared with the ITRI's relatively mild estimate, global solar cell manufacturers have a more optimistic forecast of 4.8-gigawatt production output by 2008.

Due to skyrocketing oil prices, the need for clean and renewable solar energy will only become stronger in the coming years, the official said.

Currently, the top 10 solar cell makers are: Sharp -- with 428 megawatts of output, Q-Cells (160 megawatts), Kyocera Solar (125 megawatts), Sanyo Electric (125 megawatts), Mitsubishi Electric (100 megawatts), Schott Solar (95 megawatts), BP Solar International (90 megawatts), Suntech Power (80 megawatts), Motech Industries (茂迪, 60 megawatts) and Shell Solar (59 megawatts).

Most of the top 10 are Japanese makers.

Motech is the only one based in Taiwan.
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