AU Optronics Corp’s (AUO, 友達光電) solar module business has been profitable for a second straight year this year, benefiting from growing demand for renewable energy in Taiwan, the LCD panelmaker said yesterday.
The company said that its efforts to transform itself into a provider of comprehensive solar solutions started bearing fruit, adding that its business ranges from supplying solar modules to building and operating its own solar energy plants, as well as helping clients manage their solar power installations.
AUO expects its solar business unit to post more than NT$10 billion (US$360.88 million) in revenue this year.
Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei Times
“Our solar business turned a profit last year. This year will be the second year. We have evolved to be a provider of various solar services,” AUO president Frank Ko (柯富仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a media briefing arranged by the Taiwan Display Union Association (臺灣顯示器產業聯合總會) in Taipei.
“As green energy demand is rising in Taiwan, we launched one-stop-shop services six months ago for landlords or small-scale solar energy developers to pick all sorts of AUO-select components through a platform created by AUO,” said Ko, who is the association’s chairman
AUO is bullish about next year’s solar business outlook, he said.
“We will continue to make profits next year. We have made progress in landing [deals to build] large-scale solar energy plants. Order visibility is clear,” Ko said.
AUO expects its solar energy installations to produce up to 500 megawatts in 2023, more than doubling from more than 200 megawatts this year.
The company installs solar panels on the roofs of factories, above fishing ponds and erects ground-mount solar panels for clients, it said.
Separately, LCD panelmaker Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that revenue contracted for a fifth consecutive month last month, as global port congestion and uneven supply of key components and materials affected production.
Some of the company’s Chinese suppliers were forced to halt production due to tightened COVID-19 pandemic controls ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which are to take place in February.
Revenue contracted 0.8 percent to NT$26.59 billion last month, compared with NT$26.8 billion in October, but increased 1.9 percent from NT$26.09 billion in November last year.
“Logistics issues and short supply of components and materials remained the main factors behind the slide,” Innolux president James Yang (楊柱祥) said.
AUO on Wednesday reported a monthly revenue growth of 1.6 percent to NT$30.89 billion last month, compared with NT$30.38 billion in October.
The company attributed the growth to a 3 percent month-on-month increase in panel shipments.
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