Ta Tung to start production of solar silicon wafers in 2005

August 18, 2004

Tatung Co., long the top brand in Taiwan's home appliance market, has announced that its subsidiary Green Energy Technology Inc. will invest NTD 470 million in the production of photovoltaic solar silicon wafers, the primary component for the production of solar electric panels. Green Energy plans to kick off production in the second quarter of 2005 and has set an annual production target of 6.5 million silicon wafers. It plans to boost its total investment in this new business to a total of NTD 1 billion in 2006.

Chairman of Green Energy and President of Tatung, W. S. Lin, says this is an important investment for the Tatung Group, pointing out that Tatung Co. and Tatung University have already devoted significant resources to the development of alternative energy, most notably fuel cells and wind energy. Lin stresses the important role solar energy will play as crude oil supplies shrink, and notes that it will be relatively difficult for Taiwan to obtain energy resources in the future when faced with competition from big countries. These are some of the reasons Tatung has chosen to develop commercialized alternative energy.

Green Energy will sell its wafers to solar cell makers in Taiwan and around the world. The solar panel industry has grown rapidly over the last six years, achieving an average growth rate of 36% annually. This industry produced approximately 750 megawatts of panels worldwide in 2003, with a production value exceeding USD2 billion. Germany, Japan and the USA are the primary markets for solar panels.

Another Tatung subsidiary, San Chih Semiconductor Co., will play an essential role in the production of these solar silicon wafers. San Chih has been in the silicon wafer business since 1975 and is familiar with most of the processes required to make solar grade silicon wafers. It manufactures 3" to 6" silicon wafers and provides reclaiming services for 5" to 8" wafers for semiconductor factories.

The Tatung team will depend on US company GT Solar Technologies, a division of GT Equipment Technologies, and an internationally-recognized manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) solar wafer, cell and module manufacturing equipment, for technical support and the installation of a turnkey multi-crystal silicon wafer manufacturing line at Green Energy.

(United Daily News)

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