Taiwan Solar Cell manufacturers will capture the global solar cell market

The Taiwanese solar industry is the world’s second largest after China and dominated by solar cell and wafer manufacturers. The industry has seen various ups and downs due to volatile nature of the global solar geopolitical currents. The companies were in a soup last year, as USA included Taiwanese companies for imposing ADD on Chinese made modules. Taiwanese solar cell manufacturers had a great time in 2013 as major Chinese solar module makers bought Taiwanese cells to escape USA duties. However, that turned around badly last year. Now these companies are trying to diversify by locating factories in China and SE Asia to escape USA duties and lower costs. The companies are also benefiting from the sharp growth in solar energy demand this year from Japan and China. The whole solar manufacturing ecosystem has tightened due to the sharp demand. Even though the solar prices has come down a bit, the demand is strong and most of these companies are running at full capacity now with increasing orders.

Motech, Gintech and Neo Solar Power are the three biggest Taiwanese companies. Though these companies are not making too much profit, they are well capitalized with little debt on their balance sheet unlike the Chinese companies. They also have good professional management and better equipment and technology, as compared to their Chinese peers. The problem with these companies is their OEM mentality, which does not allow them to sell their products in the international market in their own name. However, I think they do have a role in the solar ecosystem as top rate suppliers to top tier global brands. There are also indications that top Chinese solar companies are looking to shed their solar wafer and cell making operations to focus on module manufacture and sales. The intermediate steps in the solar supply chain have become commoditized now and the vertical integration is not helping these companies too much.