Taiwan-based TFT-LCD panel maker Chimei Innolux reportedly is considering selling Chi Mei Energy - a subsidiary that makes amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules - due to operational difficulties in the face of price competition from crystalline silicon solar cell makers, according to industry sources.
But Chimei Innolux has denied the claims concerning the fate of the subsidiary.
Chi Mei Energy was originally under Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO), but it has become a subsidiary of Chimei Innolux after CMO's merger with Innolux Display and TPO Displays on March 18, 2010.
Polycrystalline silicon PV modules are cheaper and have higher energy conversion rates than a-Si Thin-film PV modules. Prices of polycrystalline silicon PV modules have dropped to below US$2/watt, but the average production cost of a-Si thin-film PV modules is about US$2/watt, the sources noted.
Article translated by Adam Hwang
