Motech solar cell capacity to reach 2GWp in 3-5 years
by Nuying Huang, Tainan; Rodney Chan
Source: DIGITIMES, 28 May 2008
Solar cell maker Motech Industries expects its total capacity to reach 2GWp within three to five years, according to company chairman Simon Tsuo. In Taiwan, Motech’s Fab 1 will have its capacity raised to 180MWp from the current 160MWp. The company has also rented extra land near Fab 1 to build another plant. Fab 2, which currently has a capacity of 160MWp, can house a total of more than 300MWp, while Fab 5, which recently came online, also has an expected total capacity reaching 300MWp, he said. In total, Motech’s solar cell capacity in Taiwan will reach 1GWp, the chairman said.
In China, Tsuo said the company has changed plans for its Kunshan plant, which will now make solar cells instead of silicon wafers. The change was prompted by revisions to China’s export policies which will impose more restrictions on exports of silicon wafers and would have caused an increase of 12.5% in Motech’s production costs, Tsuo said.
He explained that as China’s silicon wafer suppliers will also find it difficult to export their products, they will most likely increase their supply to the domestic market.
There is land reserved next to the Kunshan plant for an expansion that will take Motech’s total solar cell capacity in China also to 1GWp. Motech expects its solar cell output to reach 280MWp in 2008, and 400MWp in 2009. For 2009, Motech has already secured 2,000 tons of materials for solar cell production, in addition to supplies from its US-based affiliate AE Polysilicon, Tsuo said.