Taiwan-based crystalline silicon solar cell makers, including Motech Industries, Neo Solar Power and Gintech Energy, plan to set up production lines in countries other than China to cope with US ant-dumping tariffs and have begun searching for idle production equipment available in China, according to industry sources.
Most of the Taiwan-based makers plan to set up production lines in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, the sources said. Since relocating their own equipment in Taiwan or procuring new equipment is more costly than procuring second-hand equipment, and there are idle solar cell factories in China, the makers are looking for equipment to take over, the sources explained.
Idle solar cell equipment in China is estimated at 5GWp in total annual capacity, accounting for 12.5% of the total existing production capacity of 40GWp, the sources said. However, more than half of idle equipment is locally made while Taiwan-based makers would like to choose models supplied by international vendors, the sources indicated. In addition, most idle equipment provided by international vendors at single factories have annual production capacities of 60-100MWp, far short of the 300-500MWp needed by Taiwan-based makers, the sources said. Therefore, it is quite difficult for Taiwan-based makers to find desirable equipment, the sources indicated.
