L R AS Published on Saturday 5 November 2022 - n° 423 - Categories:Asia
Taiwanese production and market
The Energy Taiwan 2022 exhibition, held from 19 to 21 October, featured solar photovoltaics, wind power, energy storage, sustainability and innovation. This year's event had nearly 1,000 booths and saw a 25% increase in visitors over the previous year.
The photovoltaic section saw more presentations of energy storage systems this year
The panels manufactured in Taiwan are classified by project type.
G1 and M6 glass sheet panels are used for roofing. As Taiwan is prone to typhoons, most panels are certified to withstand 18 levels of wind pressure and are equipped with aluminium frames with drainage.
For ground-mounted plants, the transition to larger formats is slower. Most manufacturers still use G1 and M6 bifacial panels. As the government encourages solar projects for fisheries and projects near water, such as ponds, reservoirs and retention ponds, manufacturers are providing corrosion resistant panels for these projects. Most are certified to withstand sodium and fog level 8+.
Only TSEC produces large format panels, the other manufacturers have not adopted this format. This is because Taiwanese roofs are small and of various shapes, and their limited surface area makes it difficult to install large-format panels and therefore does not allow for efficient use of the roof surface.
Motech adopted TOPCon to match the international market. It introduced M6 TOPCon panels this year and is expected to begin commercial production in the fourth quarter.
URE provides an environmental solution with panels that can be dismantled and reused after being recycled.
Foreigners in Taiwan
Foreign brands such as LONGi, Qcells and VSUN exhibited panels made in Southeast Asia. Most of them are large format M10, which differentiates them from Taiwanese made panels. However, they do not offer any guarantees for Taiwan's climate and project site conditions.
The South East Asian panels outperform the Taiwanese ones in terms of both power and efficiency. Taiwanese panels always have a lower price-performance ratio, which is why investors tend to choose Southeast Asian panels. The Taiwanese optimise the panels for the local environment and weather conditions and provide after-sales service and warranty.
The demand
The demand for PV in Taiwan is steadily increasing every year, thanks to policies supporting PV development and local manufacturing. Annual demand in Taiwan will be 2.2-2.5 GW this year.
Ground-mounted projects are not progressing well, due to the difficulty of accessing land, the grid and the tedious process of obtaining construction approval.
PV InfoLink of 26 October 2022
