LCD makers take solar charge

Demand for LED Grows Exponentially

Soaring demand for solar cell driven LCD screens is keeping manufacturers busy at the moment.

“It's been an absolute god send,” said one beleagured CEO.

The top makers of LCD panel manufacturing equipment are beefing up solar cell operations to meet soaring worldwide demand.

The global market for solar cells surged a whopping 43% last year, to about 2.5 billion watts in 2006. Growth has stayed above 40% in recent years and demand is expected to continue expanding at a sharp pace, thanks to newcomers from Taiwan and India.

Sharp still leads the solar cell making market but its close rivals, Q-Cells (Germany) and Kyocera have built most of their own manufacturing equipment. The new entrants from Asia tend to have limited technological capabilities.

Building LCD panels and solar cells follow similar processes. Silicon and metal films are deposited on large glass substrates in both cases, which means, LCD panel-equipment firms have found it easy to cater to solar cell makers.

Ulvac has signed a contract to install its assembly line system at a Taiwanese solar cell manufacturer and has won orders from other solar cell makers. The company is spending 3 billion yen to build a production line for solar cell manufacturing devices at a facility in Kanagawa Prefecture. The line is due to be completed in September.

COMING UP

Meanwhile, Shibaura Mechatronics, an affiliate of Toshiba Corp. (6502), has made prototypes of devices that sport laser technology and has begun shipments.

Look out for our report on this subject.

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