Home appliance maker Tatung Co (大同) plans to increase investment in the production of glass solar cells, riding on the rosy prospects of the solar energy industry, a top company official said yesterday.
Part of the plan will involve resource integration, with Tatung working with its subsidiaries Green Energy Technology Inc (
Green Energy is the nation's largest manufacturer of solar photovoltaic multicrystalline silicon wafers, while Chunghwa Picture Tubes is the nation's third-largest manufacturer of LCD panels.
Lin, who also doubles as Green Energy's chairman, said that sales of Green Energy are forecast to surpass the NT$10 billion (US$300 million) mark next year, thanks to product diversification from silicon wafers and glass membrane solar cells to solar energy solutions.
Fueled by the red hot solar demand, Green Energy posted sales of NT$2.4 billion last year, a sharp 592 percent rise from NT$352.4 million a year ago. It also posted net profits of NT$506.8 million last year, compared with losses of NT$60.1 million a year earlier.
The company's second production facility will be completed by September, pushing its total output to 200 megawatts this year, Lin said.
The company's shareholders also approved a proposal to distribute NT$3.2 in cash dividends and 8 percent in stock dividends based on last year's results.
Tatung yesterday also dismissed media reports that the company would join hands with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) to tap into the glass membrane solar cell business.
"We did not approach Hon Hai over this matter," Lin told shareholders.
Hon Hai, the nation's largest maker of electronics parts, also denied rumors of a partnership in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, saying it had never held such discussions with Tatung and had no plans of venturing into glass solar cells.
The Economic Daily News reported yesterday that Hon Hai intended to collaborate with Tatung in producing glass solar cells, through Hon Hai's affiliate Innolux Display Inc (
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