Taiwan

Taiwanese manufacturer E-Ton Solar said it will halt solar cell production due to strong price pressure. It is now seeking to sell two of its three manufacturing facilities in southern Taiwan, while its shares have been suspended from trading on Taiwan’s stock exchange.

Despite the difficulties its solar manufacturing industry faces, the Taiwanese government is ramping up its R&D efforts to measure the efficiency of what it calls “new-generation light-driven photovoltaics”.

TrendForce says the country deployed more than 1 GW of new PV for the first time last year, and predicts this year may see as much as 1.5 GW of new solar capacity. The nation’s cumulative capacity reached 2,618 MW at the end of last year, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Motech Industries revealed this week that its annual net loss widened by 124.19% year on year to NT$6.795 billion ($220.5 million), marking its biggest yearly net loss ever.

United Renewable Energy was the result of a troublesome year for Taiwan’s solar manufacturing market. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Asia’s largest independent power producer – Vena Energy – for the supply of modules for projects in Taiwan’s strong development sector.

Global technology giant Google this week announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase the output from a 10 MW PV installation in Tainan City, Taiwan, to power its Changhua County data center on the island’s west coast. The agreement represents Google’s first move to procure renewable energy anywhere in Asia, and the first agreement made since a recent change to Taiwan’s Electricity Act allowed non-utility companies to buy renewable energy directly.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has announced a 10.17% decrease to next year’s feed-in tariff (FIT) rates for solar PV installations, which is much higher than the average decrease of 4.25% in the global PV industry. This will make 2019 a tough year for Taiwan’s PV industry, with wider-than-expected impacts on the whole market.

According to EnergyTrend and PV Info Link, the downward spiral of prices along the PV value chain has come to a halt. Nonetheless, by bringing together the two pieces of recent market analysis, regional and value chain variations can be observed.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs is considering scrapping a 6% markup on tariffs paid to high-efficiency modules used in its Green Energy Roof scheme. The markup is said to benefit the local module manufacturing industry, which is currently struggling.

Taiwan-based Motech Industries Inc. has announced a further reduction of staff. Overall, it plans to let 916 employees go in January. Its survival strategy includes focusing on high efficiency products and serving the local market. To this end, it says it has entered into collaborations with unidentified partners.