Solar wafer maker Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美矽晶) expects its solar business to break even this year, thanks to rising demand for high-conversion efficiency products for rooftop solar systems, a company executive said yesterday.
To mitigate the impact of volatile solar wafer prices, the company is diversifying into high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar wafers, SAS spokesman Lee Chung-wei (李崇偉) told an investors’ conference arranged by the Taipei Exchange (TPEx, 櫃檯買賣中心).
“Our p-type monocrystalline silicon wafer can deliver a 20 percent conversion rate, which is the world’s highest of its kind. Those products are suitable for rooftop solar systems and have a higher average selling price,” Lee said.
A higher average selling price and constant cost reduction should help the company boost its solar business’ gross and operating margins, allowing it to at least break even this year, Lee said.
The gross margin for its solar business improved to minus-8 percent last year, from minus-26 percent in 2013, while its operating margin improved to minus-11 percent last year from minus-31 percent, the company’s financial statement shows.
As global demand for solar products are on the rise, especially from China, Sino-American will benefit from the growth, Lee said.
China significantly raised its solar system installation target to 17.8 gigawatts this year, from its original estimate of 15 gigawatts, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report released last month.
Increased demand from China should revive stagnant demand and help stem price declines, TrendForce analyst Agnus Kao (高嘉熙) said in the report.
“Demand is strong this year. Our factory is fully utilized, but we still cannot satisfy customer demand,” Lee said.
To cope with rising demand, SAS plans to expand its solar wafer capacity to 1 gigawatt this year from last year’s 850 megawatts, Lee said.
The company also plans to boost solar cell capacity to 850 megawatts this year from 500 megawatts last year.
The company’s solar business contributed more than 40 percent to its overall revenue of NT$27.82 billion (US$887.06 million) last year, while its semiconductor wafer business contributed the rest.
SAS reported NT$1.13 billion in net profit for last year, a surge from the previous year’s NT$295 million.
The company’s board approved a proposal to distribute cash dividends of NT$1.8 per share, implying a payout ratio of 87 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$2.06.
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