AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), the nation’s second-biggest LCD panel maker, yesterday said its solar modules were added to the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) list of solar-eligible equipment, which would allow the company to tap the US market.
That is one more step by the firm to make its solar business a new pillar of growth in the future as its core LCD business continues to ebb.
The company entered the UK market in December after completing the UK’s Microgeneration Certification Scheme.
Earning the CEC qualification means that the company would also be able to sell its solar modules in other US states that have adopted the standard, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the company said in a statement yesterday.
“Due to the renewable energy policy of the US federal government, the American solar industry hit record growth in 2010, making the country a promising solar market. AUO is also optimistic about this market potential,” the company said in the statement.
Solar installation projects in the US exceeded 12 gigawatts as of this month, indicating that the US would be among the fastest-growing markets in the world during the next two years, market researcher Solarbuzz said in a report dated April 7.
Solarbuzz expected the installation to double this year from last year, according to the report.
In addition to solar modules, the firm also produces key raw materials, polysilicon and solar wafers via its subsidiaries.
Last week, the company held a ceremony for a new solar wafer plant with mass production slated to begin in the first quarter of next year, which is also when the plant is expected to start operations.
AUO Crystal Corp (ACC, 友達晶材), will establish the plant at the Central Taiwan Science Park’s (中部科學園區) Houli base and it will have a first-phase combined manufacturing capacity of monocrystalline ingots and monocrystalline wafers that is expected to amount to about 250 megawatts per year.
Shares of the company declined 1.8 percent to NT$24.6 yesterday, under-performing the benchmark TAIEX, which inched lower 0.04 percent.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Taiwan’s property market is entering a freeze, with mortgage activity across the nation’s six largest cities plummeting in the first quarter, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said yesterday, citing mounting pressure on housing demand amid tighter lending rules and regulatory curbs. Mortgage applications in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung totaled 28,078 from January to March, a sharp 36.3 percent decline from 44,082 in the same period last year, the nation’s largest real-estate brokerage by franchise said, citing data from the Joint Credit Information Center (JCIC, 聯徵中心). “The simultaneous decline across all six cities reflects just how drastically the market
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
RSS