PV Taiwan shines new era on industry

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: The PV Taiwan 2009 exhibition dazzles forth Taiwan’s record size PV event that offers an efficient window on the entire industry chain for every sector of trade and industry.

Exhibitors showcased the latest PV technologies including photovoltaic materials, silicon wafers/ingots, Solar cells, HCPV, PV modules, BIPV, Power Generator Systems, Application products, processing equipment, testing and analysis devices, and certification services.

More than 236 leading companies from global PV industry have already registered for 500 booths to demonstrate the latest photovoltaic technologies and bring together the elite of Taiwan industry that supplies the world market with 12 percent of solar cells and ranks fourth in global production.

Taiwan soon to rank among world’s top three PV cell producer
Taiwan’s PV industry in 2008 churned out a value of a hundred million of NT$1,011. Its solar cell production capacity has grown to 900 MWp in 2008 with annual output comprising 12 percent of the global market to rank it fourth in the world.

It is projected that Taiwan’s solar industry will reach the value of $13.6 billion (NTD 450 billion) by 2015. This year, the Taiwan government just successfully passed the Renewable Energy Act that brings Taiwan to a new era of alternative energy development and related applications.

The currently-approved plan is backed by a five-year budget of NT$20 billion, which is specifically dedicated toward investment in R&D green energy technologies, and is expected to generate NT$200 billion in private investments for the industry.

This will vastly boost the island’s entire value chain which has already positioned Taiwan as a major solar producer for the expanding global market and placed the island as a leading cell production base to rank among the top three in the world.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s top solar event, PV Taiwan 2009 has increased the number of exhibitors by 52 percent exhibitors and booths by 67 percent over the previous year.

This event, organized by TAITRA and SEMI, PV Taiwan, ran from Oct. 7-9 at the Taipei World Trade Center. It offered a complete line-up of exhibitors from the entire industry supply chain to open a one-stop-shopping platform for world’s PV industry players. It’s here where you can scout the latest technology developing trend, catch the market movement, connect to business partners and purchase high-quality PV products.

All stars at PV Taiwan!
There were stars of the industry at PV Taiwan, such DuPont, SPIRE, EDWARDS, DESPATCH, and KLA-TENCOR from the United States, NISSHINBO and ULVAC from Japan, ISOVOLTA AG from Austria, GP SOLAR, CENTROTHERM and JONAS & REDMANN from Germany, CRITICAL MANUFACTURING SA from Portugal, SVCS PROCESS INNOVATION from Czech Republic, ASYS Group from Singapore, PARU from Korea, LDK Solar, RisunSolar and AIDE Solar from China.

There were well-known domestic PV firms including Gintech, Neo Solar, SAS, Auria Solar, Sun Well, Chi Mei Energy, Mosel, Ritek, Gloria Solar, PCM, Kinmac Solar, Sunner, Sintek, Solartech, Big Sun Energy, Everphoton.

HCPV Pavilion as networking platform
This year, PV Taiwan 2009 launched the HCPV Pavilion that combined product displays, international forums and technology presentations on providing the best marketing platform for global HCPV players.

The reduced demand due to HCPV technology in turn reduces demand for cell materials and lower power costs for sustainable high conversion efficiency. Simply put, it will become the new choice of solar farm buildings. This unique pavilion joins key players like Everphoton, Compound Solar, Arima, and Berguist and let you explore the most advanced technologies and suppliers.

Top experts were flown in such as Dr. Pedro Banda, Director General of ISFOC, and Nancy Hartsoch, Marketing VP of SolFocus, who briefed the industry on the latest trends and technologies.

PV Museum and new products display stage
This autumn show delivered greater depth and insight by featuring a full line up of market promotion activities including the New Products & Solutions Outlook.

During the exhibition, across Area D at the venue, vistiros checked out seven companies and a university staging their hottest R&D findings. Nearby, they could trace the development of the industry through the first-ever PV Museum. It offered data on milestones and critical developments of solar energy and the complete photovoltaic production process.

Also on display were the technologies and products of related upstream, midstream and downstream businesses arranged in line with different technologies and production processes. New and practical solar energy applications in the areas of food, clothing, housing and transportation are also on displayed, including solar cooking pots, solar rucksacks, solar pet houses, and solar cars.

PV Taiwan is the most significant PV event in Asia. Combining a forum and exhibition, PV Taiwan provides a one-stop sourcing platform for world PV industry players to scout the latest trends and markets, order high-quality PV products and link business partners and agents.

Featuring 18 world experts to map PV future
The Taipei Summit – PV Taiwan Forum 2009 from October 7-8, was a dazzling forum for interaction among the top players in the PV sector. Experts in the field covered:
1) PV Industry Deployment,
2) Polysilicon and New Materials,
3) New PV Applications and Technologies, and
4) Thin Films.

Speakers included Sunil Gupta, Managing Director of Morgan Stanley, Ken Hannah, CFO of MEMC, Craig Stevens, President of Solarbuzz, Xingxue Tong, President of LDK Solar, Torgeri Ulset, Vice President of Elkem Solar, Bernhard Dimmler, CEO of Weurth Solar, Dr. Kevin D. Tabor, Director of G24 Innovations and Ms. Doris Hsu, President of Sino-American Silicon Products.

In addition, over 80 delegates from South Asia joined the forum this year, including Fortunato Dela Peñam, Undersecretary Department of Science and Technology from the Philippines, Sorayut Phettakul, Vice Minster of Ministry of Industry, Thailand, and Ms. Took Gee Loo, Vice President of Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Malaysia.