Energy Taiwan 2022: Ushering in prosperity for solar-plus-storage industry

Energy Taiwan 2022, which held from Oct. 19 to 21, features solar PV, wind power, energy storage, sustainability, and innovation. This year’s event boasted nearly 1,000 booths and saw an increase in visitors by 25% compared to the previous year.

The solar PV section saw more displays of energy storage application this year and attracted more developers, investors, and downstream manufacturers in the energy storage and RECs sectors, rejuvenating the green industry. 

In this report, InfoLink provides insights into the solar PV products and Taiwanese solar market.

Taiwan-made modules

The format of Taiwan-made modules is categorized by project type. G1 and M6 glass-backsheet modules are used for rooftop PV projects. As Taiwan is prone to typhoon, most modules are certified to resist 18 levels of wind pressure and are equipped with aluminum frames with drainage ability.

In the ground-mounted PV sector, the transition to larger format is slower, with most manufacturers still using G1 and M6 bifacial modules, either in glass-glass or glass-transparent backsheet or grid backsheet design. Moreover,  as the government promotes fishery-solar projects and projects that near waters, such as ponds, reservoir, and detention basin, module manufacturers provide anti-corrosion solutions for such projects, with most being certified to resist sodium and mist of 8+ level.

Taiwan-made large format modules 

In Taiwan, only TSEC produces large format modules, while other manufacturers have yet to make production plans. Since the rooftop area in Taiwan is smaller with different shapes, some end users said that limited roof area makes it difficult to arrange large format modules and thus cannot utilize the roof area effectively. Therefore, project owners still opt for M6 modules, meaning that the transition to large format in the rooftop sector depends on end user acceptability. Having said that, large format modules will become a trend in Taiwan in the ground-mounted PV sector due to its advantage in power output and costs.

Others 

• Motech adopted TOPCon to be in line with international market. It unveiled M6 TOPCon modules this year and is expected to start commercial production in Q4.

• URE provides environmental solution with modules that can be disassembled and reused after recycled.

Southeast Asia-made modules

In terms of modules made in Southeast Asia, foreign brands including Longi, Q Cells, and VSUN all displayed modules this year.

Most Southeast Asia-made modules exhibited this year feature M10 large format, differentiating from Taiwan-made modules. However, they don’t provide guarantees specially made for Taiwan’s climate and project site condition.

Southeast Asian modules outperform those made in Taiwan, in terms of both wattage and efficiency. Taiwanese modules still have inferior price-performance-ratio, which is the reason investor tend to choose Southeast Asian modules.

Having said that, modules makers in Taiwan still differentiate products by optimizing modules in accordance with local environment and weather condition and provide after-sales service and warranty. These are the biggest advantage of Taiwanese modules. 

Meantime, the outlook seems bright for installed PV capacity in the U.S. The nation will rely on imports before its local manufacturing capacity matures. Should the U.S. impose no tariff barrier, Southeast Asian products will be exported to the U.S. before being distributed to other markets. Thanks to that, pressures will not build up for Taiwanese module makers. 

Overall, PV demand in Taiwan grows every year steadily, with supportive policies for PV development and local manufacturing. The government sets clear installed capacity target, introduces FIT mechanism to encourage installation, and lays down regulations to protect local manufacturers. Against these backdrops, InfoLink pegs annual demand this year in Taiwan at 2.2-2.5 GW.

However, ground-mounted projects yield little progress, due to the difficulty in accessing lands and feeder lines and the belabored process of acquiring construction approval and changing land serial number. InfoLink forecasts the market to accomplish less than the targets. Taiwan hopes to cumulate 20 GW of installed PV capacity by 2025. To retain the goal, the government needs to streamline application procedures and the management of land and feeder lines to prevent speculations.