The petroleum price hike is fuelling growth of the Taiwan's solar energy sector, with several foreign investors planning to put money into this industry in Taiwan.

In June, Dupont Taiwan set up a new USD $3 million photovoltaic research and development center in Taoyuan County, northern Taiwan to offer technology for the production of the main material used in photovoltaic manufacturing process to customers in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a DuPont official. The center will focus on technology related to metallization paste, which is the primary material used in the photovoltaic industry.

In July, Applied Materials announced to set up a new 8.5G CVD plant in Tainan Science Park, Southern Taiwan, to offer CVD system for FPD and PV industry.

Mike Splinter, CEO of Applied Materials, indicated that the company will invest NTD$ 7 billion in Taiwan next year. Besides, Applied Materials cooperates with Green Energy, a domestic thin film solar maker, developing 8.5G thin film plant. The action will help to further boost Taiwan's FPD and PV industry and complete Taiwan's industry value chain.

Dr. Peter Shih Ta-Cheng, PIDA's founder and chairman, is invited by China SSL 2008 to deliver a speech on the topics of "A New Paradigm in Lighting" in Shenzhen, China on July 25. During the talk, he will stress on the points that the industry has move forward from science to art, from industry to service and from energy to ecology.Meanwhile, he will give an overview on Taiwan LED industry from industry structure, production value and development trend aspects. Especially, the giants such as TSMC & AUO joining the race might change the LED landscape in Taiwan.

Fig.1 LED companies Vs. TSMC and AUO in Taiwan

	TSMC	AUO	Epistar	Everlight
Category	Semiconductor	TFT-LCD Panel	LED Chip	LED packaging
Capital ( M USD )	8,402	2,563	203	115
Revenue ( M USD )	10,284	15,729	334	323
Number of employees	15,000	42,000	3,100	1,900