L R AS Published on Saturday 15 October 2022 - n° 420 - Categories:industrial strategy
The PV Association of Taiwan encourages the setting up of factories in the United States
The Taiwanese CEO of silicon wafer manufacturer Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS), who is also President of the Taiwan Photovoltaic Industry Association, believes that the US Inflation Reduction Act offers opportunities for Taiwanese manufacturers to produce in the US.
American developers of photovoltaic systems
have been looking to cooperate with Taiwanese manufacturers of photovoltaic cells and/or panels. They propose setting up a factory in the United States, or opening a factory as a joint venture. The latter option is less risky for Taiwanese manufacturers. SAS assesses the feasibility of investing in the United States, taking into account uncertainties such as the outcome of the anti-circumvention investigation into manufacturers of solar cells and PV panels from South-East Asia.
If Chinese or Korean manufacturers move into the US, Taiwanese manufacturers will be competitive as they will be differentiating their products rather than making products to general specifications, says the CEO. The differentiated solar cells are mainly large formats, N-type TOPCon cells and HJT cells.
In addition to differentiation, Taiwanese manufacturers need to set up US production capacity of sufficient size to achieve competitive production costs. The annual production capacity required to be profitable is 2 GWp. It is preferable to use mainly G12 silicon wafers, which is currently the largest size.
https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20221012PD204/pv-module-taiwan-us.html?chid=13
Digitimes, 13 October 2022
Editor's note There's no doubt that the US legislation is a magnet for ambitious manufacturers. Of course, you have to be competitive, hence the size, and you have to meet market expectations with products that are in demand, such as large formats.
