(Yilan, Taiwan, November 2009) The 2002 Alternative Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Martin Green, also known as the “father of global solar energy”, today visited the corporate headquarters of Yilan-based Sunrise Global Solar Energy Co., Ltd (Sunrise), provider of high-performance monocrystalline solar cells. He came to support Sunrise’s successful development of their second-generation solar cells. Sunrise Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kuei-Chang Hsu, together with Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ted Szpitalak, Chief Technical Officer, Dr Ximing Dai and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Bruce Beilby, were there to celebrate this technological achievement. Doris Hsu, the general manager of Sino-American Silicon Products Inc. (SAS; TSE: 5483), a parent company of Sunrise and long-term strategically allied partner, also gave a speech.
Sunrise COO, Ted Szpitalak, co-founder of US-listed solar energy companies Suntech (NYSE: STP), China Sunergy (NASDAQ: CSUN) and JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO), worked for over twenty years with Dr. Martin Green, who led the Australian Research Council (ARC) Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), which promoted photovoltaic research and its commercial application. The UNSW ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence achieved a world record 24.7 per cent efficiency in 1990, a record they subsequently broke in October 2008 with another world record efficiency of 25 per cent.
The close ties between Dr. Martin Green and Sunrise’s COO, Ted Szpitalak, not only provide Sunrise management with a solid foundation in global photovoltaic technology, they also allow Sunrise access to the latest technologies and research results which they can further commercialize. “Dr. Martin Green’s visit to our head office is significant in two ways, not only does it highlight his personal support of Sunrise, it also endorses Sunrise’s continuous endeavors to strengthen our technological innovation and capabilities to manufacture quality, high-efficiency solar cells,” said Sunrise COO, Ted Szpitalak.
Back in January 2009, Sunrise signed a technology transfer agreement with the University of New South Wales (UNSW) to acquire their new ‘laser doping technology (LDT)’, developed by the ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence. After a 10-month collaboration, the pilot run of Sunrise’s second-generation solar cells has achieved an 18.9 per cent conversion efficiency, with an expected 19.5 per cent to be reached in the near future. The mass production of Sunrise’s second-generation solar cell, during the third quarter of 2010, will be seen as a major breakthrough, defining Sunrise as a dominant market leader in the high-efficiency photovoltaic industry.
Recognising that the quality of the upstream silicon wafer material source is essential to a solar cell’s conversion efficiency, quality and durability, Sunrise has always adhered to strict quality guidelines when sourcing wafers. In this vein, Sunrise has chosen SAS as a provider of high-quality silicon wafers. Consequently, Sunrise’s breakage rate is lower than those who use second-tier material sources, meaning that Sunrise is able to maintain consistency in cell quality, and also achieve plant-wide, mass production conversion efficiencies of 17.7 per cent on the average, ranging up to 18.1 per cent. All of this results naturally in higher product profit margins.
Sunrise’s pre-tax net sales revenue for the third quarter is approximately NT$ 486 million with a gross profit margin of 18.01%. With a pre-tax earning per share (EPS) of NT$ 0.64, Sunrise is sure to be one of the few crystalline solar cell providers with positive annual EPS this financial year. In response to an increase market demand, “Sunrise has already completed the installation of our second production line and our output level is 60MW” said Sunrise CEO, Kuei-Chang Hsu.
###
For more relevant information, please visit our Website: www.sunriseglobalsolar.com
###
ABOUT SUNRISE GLOBAL SOLAR ENERGY CO., LTD. (SGSE)
Sunrise designs, manufactures and markets high-performance solar cells worldwide for residential, commercial and utility-scale power plant customers. Sunrise high-efficiency solar cells generate significantly more power than conventional solar technologies.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES (UNSW)
The School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering is internationally recognized for its research in the area of photovoltaics, most of which is now conducted under the ARC Centre of Excellence in Advanced Silicon Photovoltaics and Photonics. It was also the first organization in the world to offer undergraduate training in the area of Photovoltaics and Solar Energy, and has since extended the educational programs it offers to include postgraduate and research training opportunities.
MEDIA CONTACT:
SALES & MARKETING MANAGER:
WILLIAM CHEN
T: 886-3-990-5511*281
M: 886-911-553-395
william.chen@sunriseglobalsolar.com