Motech to expand solar wafer-slicing capacity by 60MWp
Source: DIGITIMES, Nuying Huang, Taipei; Adam Hwang, 23 March 2009]
http://www.digitimes.com/print/a20090323PD200.html
Motech Industries, a Taiwan-based maker of crystalline silicon solar cells, is expanding its capacity of poly-Si wafer slicing from an annual level equivalent to 100MWp currently to 160MWp, with the expansion to be completed in mid-2009, according to the company. In order to secure supply of wafers for solar cell production, Motech has installed an annual capacity of 100MWp for ingot growing and slicing, the company indicated. For the additional annual wafer-slicing capacity of 60MWp, Motech will rely on outside supply of ingots, the company said.
According to industry sources, slicing ingots into wafers is technologically challenging, for the number of wafers sliced from an ingot may vary with slicing performance and therefore results in different operating costs. This is why many solar cell makers are not engaged in slicing ingots themselves, the sources said. Motech had an annual solar cell capacity of 450MWp in 2008, during which its output was 270-280MWp, the company said. It plans to increase the capacity to 590MWp and output to 400MWp in 2009.