The 2008 Taiwan International Photovoltaic Forum and Exhibition, aimed at promoting the solar industry, opened in Taipei yesterday.
This year’s exhibition is bigger than ever, with 155 exhibitors and 299 booths — up 109 percent and 172 percent respectively from last year — the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said.
In his opening remarks yesterday, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said that solar energy was a hot market, with statistics showing that the industry has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 35 percent since 1998.
PHOTO: CHEN YUNG-CHI, TAIPEI TIMES
“Taiwan’s solar industry is well established, except for polysilicon at the very top of the stream ... Based on our successful experiences developing the semiconductor and thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal-display (TFT-LCD) industries, I believe Taiwan will become the most important solar manufacturing base in the world,” Shih said.
The total production value of Taiwan’s photovoltaic industry reached NT$53.5 billion (US$1.65 billion) last year and is projected to exceed NT$100 billion this year, Shih said, adding that the value should exceed NT$400 billion by 2015.
Taiwan has become the fourth-largest solar cell manufacturing country in the world, with a solar cell output of 545 megawatts-peak (MWp) last year, accounting for almost 13 percent of global production.
Taiwan Photovoltaic Industry Association chairman Lan Chung-wen (藍崇文) said that grid parity, the point at which photovoltaic electricity is the same price as grid electricity, might be achieved in 2012 or 2015, adding that this would boost industry growth.
In addition, Lan said the industry stood to benefit from the fact that one-fourth of the world’s population does not have access to electrical grids. It is estimated that the use of solar energy will grow sharply in less developed countries after 2012, Lan said, citing a European Photovoltaic Industry Association report.
The leading international companies participating in the two-day expo include Q-Cells AG, the world’s second-largest manufacturer of solar cells, based in Germany, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co from the US, and Nisshinbo Industries Inc from Japan.
Leading Taiwanese companies participating in the fair include E-Ton Solar Tech Co (益通光能), Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶能源) Green Energy Technology Inc (GET, 綠能科技) and many others.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
OPTION: Uber said it could provide higher pay for batch trips, if incentives for batching is not removed entirely, as the latter would force it to pass on the costs to consumers Uber Technologies Inc yesterday warned that proposed restrictions on batching orders and minimum wages could prompt a NT$20 delivery fee increase in Taiwan, as lower efficiency would drive up costs. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi made the remarks yesterday during his visit to Taiwan. He is on a multileg trip to the region, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan. His visit coincided the release last month of the Ministry of Labor’s draft bill on the delivery sector, which aims to safeguard delivery workers’ rights and improve their welfare. The ministry set the minimum pay for local food delivery drivers at
RSS