PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

Motorcycle manufacturer plans solar cell factory in Taiwan

E-Ton Dynamics Tech. Ind. Co. Ltd., a Taiwanese manufacturer of all-terrain vehicles, scooters, and motorcycles, is expanding into solar cell production.

	© MVSystems
MVSystems will supply a silicon nitride coating system for E-Ton's solar cell factory in Taiwan.

The Tainan-based company, which recently began to produce emissions-free electric scooters, will continue its move towards eco-friendly technologies by setting up a 5 MW solar cell factory. »Commercial production of solar cells will begin in January 2003,« says Daniel Kuo, vice president of E-Ton's photonics and green energy department. Construction of the new factory building is already complete; the production line for mono- and polycrystalline silicon solar cells is currently being set up.

The PV manufacturing equipment maker NewSun Technologies Ltd., of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, was contracted to design the line, which will use a silicon nitride anti-reflection coating system from MVSystems Inc. of Golden, Colorado, USA. Kuo says that E-Ton may expand the production line in 2004, though it has no intention of also manufacturing solar modules. Some of the solar cells will be exported, but figures are not yet concrete.

E-Ton will be the third cell manufacturer in Taiwan: according to PHOTON International's 2001 world cell market survey (see PI 3/2002, p. 38), Taipan-based Motech made 3.5 MW of polycrystalline cells and Sinonar of Taipeh produced 3 MW of a-Si panels. At that time Motech reported plans to increase cell output to 9 MW in 2002, while Sinonar was looking for 5 MW.