AUO to showcase competitive edge in solar industry value chain at Japan's PV EXPO

HSINCHU, TAIWAN: AU Optronics Corp. will exhibit at PV EXPO 2010 in Tokyo Big Sight, Japan from March 3-5 to showcase its competitive edge in the solar industry value chain. High quality polysilicon, ingots and wafers produced by M.Setek and high-efficiency mono-crystalline and multi-crystalline PV modules from AUO will be on display.

The PV EXPO in Japan is one of the most noted professional PV trade shows in the world, as well as the most important business platform of the Asian PV industry. There are 570 exhibitors worldwide participating this year, displaying a full range of technologies for materials, equipment, solar cells and modules, photovoltaic systems and integration schemes. It is a must-attend event for vendors who wish to break into the Japanese and Asian PV markets.

AUO will be exhibiting the high-efficient module Mono 245W, which is capable of generating more power on space-limited rooftops with an impressive conversion rate of 14.7 percent. It weighs merely 20kg, around 15 percent lighter than modules of the same size in the market, and is also easy to install. Customers have their options of choosing black or white colored modules to match the designs of their buildings.

In its energy business, AUO has both the quality key materials from M.Setek in the upstream and photovoltaic system projects in the downstream to provide the most competitive total solution. Therefore, the company will exhibit quality material with high conversion rates at the PV EXPO to demonstrate its strategic position in the integration of the solar industry supply chain.

Being a major supplier to renowned solar cell companies around the world, M.Setek boasts leading technologies in Japan for upstream polysilicon and wafers with high conversion rates. It is one of the few global suppliers that can provide high quality and high-efficiency solar wafers. The Company is also among the first to employ diamond wire sawing and is capable of mass production. The technology helps increase conversion rates, eliminate the use of organic solvents to ensure eco-friendly production, and maintain cost competitiveness.

M.Setek is also equipped with the technologies to fully recycle its materials, to take their share of responsibility in carbon balance in the green energy industry. At the PV EXPO, M.Setek will display several wafers, among which the N-Type mono-crystalline wafer can be applied to the making of high-efficiency solar cells, with a conversion rate as high as 20-23 percent.

James Chen, AUO's Senior Associate Vice President of the Solar Photovoltaic Business Unit will be speaking at the Taiwan Photovoltaic Industry Forum on the morning of March 4 during PV EXPO. The topic is to be AUO's Green Solutions.

AUO has actively invested in solar business and planned for the solar value chain from upstream to downstream. The Company has partners in Europe for the development of several solar projects. In addition, a reliability lab for the testing of solar modules has been set up in Taichung, with its product quality certified by TUV Rheinland, a global leader in independent testing and assessment services from Germany.

The plan is to next launch solar business operating points in China this year. With the strategy to provide total solutions, AUO will cooperate closely with partners in the industry value chain to further develop the global solar market.