Shipments from local solar cell manufactures are expected to rise 40.1 percent this year due to higher solar-system installation rates in the US and Japan as well as rising orders from China on the back of a new solar subsidy designed to curb carbon emissions, a local market researcher said.
Local manufacturers are expected to ship solar cells enough to generate 1.5 gigawatts this year, after three years of industrial downturn and subsequent restructuring, Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute (MIC, 資策會) said.
In dollar terms, shipments will increase 25 percent annually to US$3.37 billion, MIC said in a report on Friday.
“Taiwanese companies have benefited from solar disputes related to antidumping and antisubsidy measures imposed on China by Europe and the US,” MIC analyst Sean Kao (高鴻翔) said in the report. “Growing demand in the US, Japan and China have also helped.”
However, Kao said MIC had a less vigorous outlook for the industry next year.
Demand would be dampened by reduction in solar power subsidies around the world next year, which would deal a blow to solar power-system installations in Europe and the US and less solar-farm investment in emerging markets, he said.
Kao said Taiwanese companies should stay vigilant against any adverse repercussions from capacity expansion by Chinese companies as well as falling demand in the US and Europe.
Taiwanese solar-cell makers are expected to increase their capacity by 1.5 gigawatts in total to 12,374 megawatts next year from this year’s 10,801 megawatts, MIC forecast.
US research house NPD Solarbuzz is more optimistic about global demand for the solar industry next year.
Global demand for solar photovoltaic (PV) is expected to jump 36 percent to record-high 49 gigawatts next year, compared with 36 gigawatts estimated for this year, NPD Solarbuzz said in a report released on Monday last week.
“Manufacturing over-capacity and pricing erosion within the PV industry was previously a key factor in limiting annual growth to 10-20 percent between 2011 and 2013,” NPD Solarbuzz vice president Finlay Colville said. “With a more stable pricing environment and the prospects of increased end-market globalization, NPD Solarbuzz forecasts a return to annual growth above 30 percent for the PV industry in 2014.”
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS