AxunTek Solar Energy Co (綠陽光電), the first Taiwanese company to have developed copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) thin-film technology for green energy, is set to upgrade and expand its production of CIGS thin-film solar cells and related products at a new plant, company officials said yesterday.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Export Processing Zone Administration (EPZA) has given the green light to AxunTek’s plan to build a manufacturing plant at the Export Processing Zone in Pingtung County for research and development, and the production of CIGS thin-film solar cells.
Under the plan, AxunTek is planning to invest NT$6.99 billion (US$212.4 million) in the expansion of its CIGS thin-film solar cell production, the EPZA said.
AxunTek unveiled Taiwan’s first CIGS thin-film solar cells last year at the International Photovoltaic Forum and Exhibition.
CIGS is a compound semiconductor material composed of copper, indium, gallium and selenium that is used as light-absorbent material for thin-film solar cells.
Panels that harvest energy using CIGS cost far less to make and install than traditional solar panels.
Axuntek’s mission is to help upgrade the nation’s solar cell industry, which is expected to play a critical role in an era in which renewable and low-pollution energy will be in high demand, founder Lin Fei-lung said.
“Our team is researching high-efficiency CIGS thin-film solar cells, components, process integration, research into in-line deposition systems, packaging processes for CIGS thin-film and related equipment,” Lin said.
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