Lite-On Group (光寶集團) said yesterday it has inked a deal with IKEA to help the Swedish furniture giant build 2-megawatt solar arrays on the roofs of its Belgian warehouses, marking its first major step in the new solar business.
Lite-On Green Technologies Inc (光寶綠色能資), a solar subsidiary of electronic component supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技), said it signed an agreement with IKEA last month to install the solar power devices, beating out nine competitors.
The warehouse project, IKEA’s biggest solar power project, is due to be completed by the end of the year, Lite-On Green Technologies said.
The company was set up last year with an initial capital of NT$2.5 billion (US$77.1 million). It focuses on offering a total solution to building solar power systems.
“We will see revenues contribution from the deal in September,” said Michael Chuang (莊美琛) president of Lite-On Green Technologies. “We expect to land more orders later this year.”
The company might win orders this year to build about 5 megawatt solar power systems, mostly on roofs, Chuang said.
The firm may see its business jump substantially next year as it might wrap up talks with firms in Germany, Italy, emerging countries in Europe and China, Lite-On Group chairman Raymond Soong (宋恭源) told reporters.
The overall green energy market is expected to grow by 20 percent in terms of compound average growth in the next three to five years, Lite-On said.
The economic slowdown has taken a toll on the overall solar industry this year, but business should improve next year as more governments such as Japan plan to launch new green energy subsidy programs, Chuang said.
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