China-based maker looking for thin-film PV module partners in Taiwan

Thin-film PV

A solar energy subsidiary of China Triumph International Engineering Company (CTIEC) is looking for potential partners in Taiwan for the production of thin film PV modules, according to Peng Shou, chairman of the China-based CTIEC

The newly established subsidiary is setting up a CdTe thin-film PV module trial production line with an annual capacity of 5MWp and is also developing CIGA (copper-indium-gallium-selenide) thin-film PV modules, Peng indicated.

The subsidiary has signed MOUs with several provincial governments in China for installing PV systems in the respective provinces, with planned capacity totaling 1.0GWp, Peng said. The company hopes to cooperate with Taiwan-based partners who can provide thin-film PV module equipment and/or technologies on a joint-venture basis, Peng noted.

The China government is restricting the expansion of the country's capacity for crystalline silicon solar cells, which are already in oversupply and whose production is less eco-friendly, said Peng.

The future focus of China's solar energy industry will be on the thin-film sector, but thin-film PV products will have to be cost-efficient in their competition with crystalline silicon ones, the chairman said.

The CTIEC subsidiary focuses on CdTe and CIGS because amorphous silicon single junction and micromorphous silicon tandem junction are comparatively mature in manufacturing technology, Peng said.