Harvard University (US), master in City and Regional Planning (1983)
近年工作履歷: 聯合報系 China Economic News Service 英文產業新聞撰稿員 (1997-2003); Digitimes 高科技英文新聞撰稿 (2003-September 2021, 於2021年十月退休)
e-mail: adamhwang38@gmail.com 行動電話: 0939-433-465
Investment in PV production in US needs more than IRA incentives, says TSEC chairman
Nuying Huang, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES Asia
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) may afford opportunities for Taiwan-based PV makers to set factories in the US, but their investment decisions will hinge on other factors in addition IRA, according to Ellick Liao, chairman of solar cell and PV module maker TSEC.
Such factors include rules for Chinese makers to set up factories in the US, anti-dumping and countervailing tariffs on China-made PV products, and importing PV modules from Southeast Asia where Chinese makers have set up factories, Liao explained.
If there is favorable regulatory environment, Taiwan-based solar cell and PV module makers can invest in production in the US in two stages, Liao said. They may initially produce PV modules in the US based on consideration of transportation cost because PV modules are larger and heavier, and then produce solar cells in the second stage, Liao noted.
As IRA encourages households to set up rooftop PV systems by offering 30% investment tax credit, the average area of the roof of a household in the US can allow establishment of a PV system with installation capacity of 50KWp which is enough to meet average daily power demand per household including power charging for 1-2 electric vehicles (EV).
Besides IRA and regulations, state government support is important for Taiwan-based makers' investment, Liao said. For example, New York State Government helped Tesla and Panasonic acquire a land site for setting up a joint-venture HIT (heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer) solar cell factory in Buffalo, Liao noted, adding that Taiwan-based makers planning to set up factories in the US can follow the model. Perhaps, Taiwan-based makers can create PV manufacturing clusters in some US states, Liao added.
The US government has exempted Southeast Asia-based PV module makers from anti-circumvention taxes for two years, Liao said. These makers have been accused of circumventing anti-dumping and countervailing tariffs by using China-made solar cells and PV components, Liao noted.
Viewing that Taiwan-based makers' solar cell production cost is considerably higher than China-based fellow makers', Taiwan-based makers' PV module factories in the US could use solar cells from Chinese makers, Liao said. But this is unlikely to be feasible due to the US-China trade war, Liao noted.
Chinese and South Korean PV makers may set up factories in the US, but their competition with Taiwanese makers would return to the same starting point, Liao indicated, adding that for production in the US, competition lies in human resource, yield rates, product quality and energy conversion efficiency of solar cells instead of equipment cost.
Based on Taiwan-based solar cell and PV module makers' operational scales, if they set up factories in the US, their combined annual production capacity for solar cells can reach 1GWp, while IRA is expected to create demand for at least 20GWp a year in the US, Liao estimated.
TSEC capacity roadmap
TSEC has two M6, M10 solar cell production lines with total annual capacity of 700-800MWp and will gradually phase out annual G1 solar cell production capacity of 600MWp, Liao indicated. TSEC will set up a M10 solar cell production line in first-half 2023 and may adjust the two M6, M10 solar cell production lines for dedicated production of M10 solar cells, Liao said.
TSEC has reported consolidated revenues of NT$773.3 million (US$24.6 million) for September, increasing 3.78% on month and 62.48% on year, those of NT$2.276 billion for the third quarter grew 20.49% sequentially and 61.87% on year.
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