Photovoltaic solar system supplier Lite-On Green Technologies Inc (光寶綠色能資) expects business to grow as much as five-fold this year as the solar startup gains a foothold in Europe and expands to Asian markets, a company executive said yesterday.
Lite-On Green Technologies, established two years ago, is a green energy subsidiary of electronic component manufacturer Lite-On Group (光寶集團), which has accelerated its transformation into a clean energy provider in recent years by producing clean power supplies, light-emitting-diode (LED) lamps and LED backlighting for notebook computers.
Last year, Lite-On Green Technologies, helped IKEA build a 5-megawatt photovoltaic solar array on the roof of the Swedish furniture maker’s Winterslag warehouse in Belgium. This year, it aims to win solar installation projects with a total capacity of between 30 megawatts and 50 megawatts, a jump from the 15-megawatt projects it received last year, company president Michael Chuang (莊美琛) told a media briefing yesterday.
“We have proved our capabilities in the world’s most competitive [solar] market in Europe,” Chuang said. “And we are hoping to expand our business to Asian markets.”
“China is a fast-growing market,” he said.
Yesterday, unlisted Lite-On Green Technologies unveiled two new projects.
The firm said it was hired to help complete the remaining part of a solar power plant for a Michelin tire factory in Homburg, Germany.
It also won a contract to build a solar power system at Fritz Walter World Cup Football Stadium in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and obtained the right to operate the power plant for 20 years after its completion.
That will make Lite-On Green Technologies the first Taiwanese company to operate a solar power plant in Europe.
“Operating power plants will be part of our revenue sources, but it will not play a major role,” Chuang said.
To cope with the fast growing demand, Lite-On Green Technologies plans to double its headcount to 40 people this year.
The company started eking out profits in the second year of its inception last year. Chuang said it made a higher gross margin than that of affiliated Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技), without giving the figure.
Lite-On Technology’s gross margin improved to 13.8 percent in the first three quarters of last year, from 13.2 percent the previous year.
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