Taiwan-based solar conductive paste maker Giga Solar unveiled a solar-power generating plant in Tainan, southern Taiwan on October 26, 2012.
Nevertheless, this 1.2MW plant may be the last one of this size built in Taiwan. According to Chi-jen Chen, chairman of Giga Solar, the plant was able to obtain the government's 2010 subsidies. The current policy regarding solar subsidies requires projects to be smaller than 500kW and cannot be built next to each other, which means it is unlikely to see another solar project larger than 500kW. Chen hopes the government can stimulate the development of Taiwan's domestic solar market.
The government should increase the percentage of electricity generated by renewable energy source, said Chen. In particular, Chen added, solar-generated power is one of the cleanest energy with no air or noise pollution. Chen provided a few suggestions such as upgrading the Bureau of Energy to Ministry of Energy as energy should be considered as one of the major tactical strategies for the country. The government should also increase the total annual limit of solar projects from 100MW to 500MW or more, said Chen.
Chen further hopes the government to increase the limit of the permit from 500kW to 5MW and develop ground-mount projects plus allowing solar projects to be installed on deserted farmlands. Also, solar projects need smooth flow of capital and the government can encourage financial institutes to provide financial support, said Chen.
The 1.2MW plant is Taiwan's largest private solar power-generating plant. The project consists of solar cells from three different cell makers and with Giga Solar's front silver, back silver, and back aluminum pastes.
During the construction, the project faced a monsoon season and two typhoons. The plant was finally connected to state-owned grid on June 26, 2012. Since connecting to the grid, the total power generated has been around 600,000kWh with an average of 160,000kWh per month. The plant can supply around 400 households' electricity demand per month, as the average monthly electricity used per household is around 400-500kWh.
Giga Solar believes the success of this plant will help the firm to gain experience when investing in international solar projects in the future. The firm has also been aggressively promoting solar PV systems under 500kW in Taiwan such as working with the Tainan municipal government on providing rooftop solar PV systems for farms and fishing villages.