Thursday, September 27, 2007

China supplies 80% of solar water heaters worldwide

Source: CCTV.com
09-26-2007 13:17

China's solar water heater industry supplies 80 percent of the world's market.

China is home to 80 per cent of the world's solar heated water, producing around 80 million cubic metres of solar hot water a year.

Huang Ming is the head of one of the largest businesses, supplying 15 per cent of China's solar hot water units and he plans to expand.

Huang Ming, President of Huang Ming Solar Energy Group said "The model China uses to popularise solar energy is not only suitable for developing countries but also for developed countries. Even without much support or subsidiary from the government, China's solar energy industry has flourished and now amounts for over 70 per cent of the world's industry."

China is now the world's second largest investor into renewable energy.

The growing interest and investment in green energy makes it a lucrative enterprise for Chinese entrepreneurs.

Dr. Eric Martinot of the BP Institute believes that it won't be long before one of these entrepreneurs brings these low cost units onto international market.

Eric said "They haven't really started yet, their domestic market is so large that it is really not necessary. But at some point, someone here, maybe one of the larger firms is going to recognise the profit potential for export and at that point European manufacturers, U.S. manufacturers will certainly have to start worrying."

In China, solar heated water is a bargain. A unit costs roughly 530 U.S. dollars, the cost of 4 years heating bills. After that the household enjoys free hot water.

Editor:Xiong Qu

LDK Solar Signs Wafers Supply Agreement With Mosel Vitelic, Inc.

September 27, 2007: 03:15 AM EST

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and XINYU CITY, China, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LDK Solar Co., Ltd. , a leading manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, announced today that it has signed a five-year contract to supply multicrystalline solar wafers to Taiwan-based Mosel Vitelic, Inc.

Under the terms of the agreement, pricing and quantity is fixed for the first three years. During this period, LDK Solar will deliver multicrystalline solar wafers to Mosel Vitelic valued at approximately US$190 million with delivery commencing in 2008.

"We are excited to have the opportunity to expand our relationship with Mosel Vitelic, Inc.," stated Xiaofeng Peng, Chairman and CEO of LDK Solar. "Mosel has excellent engineering and manufacturing capabilities and we are pleased to support their growth plans."

"We are delighted to secure supply of high-quality silicon wafers from LDK Solar," stated Rebecca Tang, President of Mosel Vitelic, Inc. "We look forward to enhancing our relationship with LDK as we grow our solar business globally."

About LDK Solar

LDK Solar Co., Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, which are the principal raw material used to produce solar cells. LDK sells multicrystalline wafers globally to manufacturers of photovoltaic products, including solar cells and solar modules. In addition, the company provides wafer processing services to monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cell and module manufacturers. LDK's headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Xinyu City, Jiangxi province in the People's Republic of China. The company's office in the United States is located in Sunnyvale, California.

About Mosel Vitelic, Inc.

With years of experience in semiconductor IC design and process technology development, Mosel Vitelic entered the solar cell business in 2006. Mosel Vitelic delivers solar cell products for the world-wide markets through a solid foundation in research, development, manufacturing, and marketing. Mosel Vitelic also provides RF ID system products and IC wafer foundry service, specializing in power and high voltage devices. Mosel Vitelic business operations serve numerous markets including consumer, industrial, and solar power. Mosel Vitelic headquarters are in Hsinchu Science Based Industrial Park, Taiwan with a subsidiary in the United States. Mosel Vitelic has been listed in Taiwan Stock Exchange since 1995.

China's solar industry growing too slowly - report

September 27, 2007: 02:19 AM EST

Sep. 27, 2007 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China is failing to take full advantage of its solar power (OTCBB:SOPW) potential, and the rate of capacity growth is still too slow, according to an industry report.

Although the government aims to lift total solar power capacity to 10,000 megawatts by the end of 2030, the figure had not yet reached 100 MW by the end of last year, according to the report, published by Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Federation and the China Association for the Comprehensive Utilization of Resources, and cited in the official People's Daily.

The pace of growth is also extremely slow, with only about 10-15 MW of additional capacity created over the whole of last year.

Most of the raw materials for the solar power industry are imported, while about 90 pct of the finished panels are sold abroad, the report said, and China still has not developed its own silicon supplies to support the industry.

Kong Li, the vice-secretary of the China Academy of Renewable Energy, told The People's Daily that the cost of producing photovoltaic panels is still too high, and popular awareness of the advantages of renewable energy is insufficient.

The government is only paying lip service to the development of the industry, he said.

At the beginning of this month, the government released its medium- to long-term development plan for China's renewable energy industry, and said that the country's total solar generation capacity would reach 1,800 MW by 2020.

The government also aims to lift the proportion of renewable energy in its total consumption to 15 pct by 2020.

david.stanway@xinhuafinance.com