Solar cell and module makers Motech Industries Inc (茂迪) and Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美矽晶) yesterday provided upbeat business outlooks for this year, due to resilient demand for solar module installations in Taiwan and overseas.
Motech Industries said revenue grew in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, and growth momentum would expand into the second half as its efforts to develop next-generation solar cells have borne fruit, company president Fred Yeh (葉正賢) said in a statement.
The firm has obtained a new order to supply 30 megawatts of N-type solar cells and is stepping up efforts to install new-generation solar cell production lines, Yeh said.
Photo: Chang Hui-wen Taipei Times
The N-type solar cell is expected to offer a better conversion efficiency of 22 percent, exceeding the current industry best, which is 20.6 percent, he said.
Motech Industries said it plans to start shipping N-type solar cells to customers in the fourth quarter of this year.
The company said it has upgraded its solar cell manufacturing equipment in Ma’anshan in China’s Anhui Province, enabling it to make large-sized, or G12, solar cells this quarter, and target Japan’s and Europe’s rooftop solar markets.
The Chinese factory is expected to be fully utilized throughout the year, it added.
Motech attributes its performance to the growth of global solar installations, which are expected to expand more than 30 percent year-on-year to 200 gigawatts this year.
Motech shareholders yesterday approved a planned distribution of NT$0.2 per common share.
The company last year made a net profit of NT$107 million (US$3.6 million), or NT$0.3 per share.
Separately, SAS said it is optimistic about the second half of the year, thanks to robust demand from the home market.
Solar revenue is expected to jump to about NT$10 billion this year, compared with NT$7 billion to NT$8 billion last year, company chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said yesterday.
To cope with resilient market demand, SAS is expanding capacity at its factories in Hsinchu and Yilan counties, as well as in Germany.
“This year will be a record-breaking year,” Hsu told reporters in an online news conference.
SAS plans to start producing new large M10 solar cells in the fourth quarter.
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