Solar cell and module manufacturer Motech Industries Inc (茂迪) yesterday said it has high order visibility through the third quarter of this year, thanks to robust demand for its new, more efficient TOPCon solar modules.
The Tainan-based company has improved the yield rate of its TOPCon production lines to 96 percent, from 70 to 75 percent last year, when it started ramping up production, it said.
“With a better yield rate, we have significantly lowered the manufacturing cost to match the cost of solar modules made on passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) technology, which is one generation older than TOPCon,” Motech president Fred Yeh (葉正賢) told reporters in Taipei.
Photo courtesy of the Kinmen County Government
By the end of this year, the cost of producing a TOPCon module could even drop to below the cost of making a PERC module, Yeh said.
TOPCon modules have a conversion efficiency rate of more than 23.5 percent, exceeding the 22.9 percent delivered by PERC modules, Yeh said.
Motech aims to boost the conversion efficiency rate of TOPCon modules to 24.5 percent from 24 percent by the end of this year, he said.
To cope with rising market demand, Motech plans to upgrade all of its solar module capacity to TOPCon modules in the first half of next year, which is six months to one year ahead of its original schedule, Yeh said.
By that time, Motech would have a TOPCon module capacity of 420 to 450 megawatts per year, he said.
TOPCon solar modules account for 40 percent of the company’s total capacity, while PERC modules make up the remaining 60 percent, he said.
Motech expects demand to grow from overseas markets, benefiting from a “non-China” as well trend as US-China trade disputes persist, Yeh said.
The company has received requests from potential customers asking to supply solar cells and modules that are made outside of China. Some requested solar products that did not use raw materials from China’s Xinjiang region, he said.
Motech has received requests from Japanese companies to send samples, which would likely pave the way for shipments next year, he said.
Motech more than doubled its net profit to NT$267.88 million (US$8.83 million) last year from NT$106.74 million a year earlier. Earnings per share increased to NT$0.73 last year from NT$0.3 a year earlier. Gross margin increased to 12.95 percent last year from 9.4 percent a year earlier.
The board of directors approved a cash dividend distribution of NT$0.45 per share, representing a payout ratio of 61.64 percent. The distribution plan is subject to shareholders’ approval during the company’s general meeting on June 19.
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