David Savastano, Editor11.18.09
China’s PE, RFID Markets Show Strong Growth
By David Savastano
The market for printed electronics (PE) and radio frequency identification (RFID) is one of the strongest growth areas in industry today, with estimates by IDTechEx, a leading consultant in this field, placing the potential market for PE at $330 billion by 2026.
Thin-Film Solar Market
The market for solar cells in China is a major growth area, as the country seeks to grow its renewable energy portfolio. Major domestic manufacturers, led by Wuxi-based Suntech, utilize the classic approach to rigid solar structures; in 2008, the output of crystalline silicon PV cells and modules in China was about one-third of the world’s total volume.
In the past year alone, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions opened a photovoltaic (PV) technical center at its China global R&D Center in Shanghai. DuPont expects to nearly triple its annual photovoltaic sales to more than $1 billion in 2012. Evergreen Solar entered into a frame agreement with Jiawei Solar (Wuhan) Co. and the Wuhan Donghu New Technology Development Zone Management Committee for a significant expansion in its String Ribbon wafer manufacturing facility in Wuhan, China. Initial capacity is expected to be approximately 100 MW and the parties intend to expand production capacity to approximately 500 MW by 2012.
There are also plenty of opportunities for thin-film flexible photovoltaics (PV) in China.
Applied Materials opened its state-of-the-art $250 million Solar Technology Centre in Xian, China. Applied Materials said this is the largest non-government solar energy research facility in the world, comprised of laboratory and office buildings covering more than 400,000 square feet and contains an entire Applied SunFab thin film manufacturing line.
Xian is located in the Shaanxi province in northwest China and is a growing center of energy technology excellence in China. The local province boasts more than 40 colleges and universities, and Xian is recognized as one of the leading high-technology research areas in the country.
Applied has worked closely with local governments, contributed to research and awarded 166 university scholarships since 2005 through an R&D fund with the Xian Municipal Science and Technology Commission and Xian High Tech Park.
Meanwhile, First Solar, Tucson, AZ, the world’s largest producer of solar cells, announced in September 2009 announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Chinese government to build a 2 gigawatt solar power plant in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, China. The plant’s capacity will be phased in, with completion scheduled for 2019. First Solar utilizes cadmium telluride for its thin-film solar cells.
In November, Hong Kong-based China Solar Power reportedly acquired ThinSilicon, a Mountain View, CA-based specialist in amorphous silicon (a-Si) technologies. China Solar Power has two manufacturing facilities, in Yantai and Jiangyin.
In addition to a-Si technology, General Solar Power (Yantai) Co., Ltd. has also acquired expertise in copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) technology, which offers nearly twice the efficiency of a-Si modules. GSP reportedly expects 14.0% efficient CIGS solar cells.
Also in November 2009, Advanced Technology & Materials Co., Ltd. (AT&M), Beijing, China, and Odersun AG, Frankfurt, Germany, announced plans to form a joint venture in Beijing, China, for the production and sales of solar cells and modules based on Odersun proprietary thin-film technology.
AT&M is an advanced materials specialist. Odersun is a German manufacturer of thin-film solar cells and modules, which are based on copper-indium-disulphide (CIS) semiconductors produced on long reels of copper tape (CISCuT).
According to the companies, Odersun and AT&M first established their relationship in 2004, when AT&M became an early investor in Odersun and a strategic partner in a number of joint research projects. The construction of the joint venture’s manufacturing facilities in China is expected to start in the course of 2010.
There is also strong interest in dye-sensitive solar cells (DSSC) in China. G24 Innovations (G24i), which successfully launched the world’s first commercial application of these cells in October 2009 with Hong Kong-based consumer electronics bag manufacturer, Mascotte Industrial Associates, signed a formal agreement with three of China’s most prestigious institutes to accelerate industrial development of the technology.
G24i has signed an agreement with the China National Academy of Nanotechnology & Engineering (CNANE) in Tianjin, together with the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC) which is part of the China Academy of Sciences, and the Nanotechnology Industrialization Base of China (NIBC).
RFID
With an eye toward the potential of RFID, China's first National RFID Industrial Zone opened in 2006 in the Zhangjiang area of Shanghai.
China’s RFID market is the world’s largest, estimated at just under $2 billion in 2008 by IDTechEx, driven by the country’s national card project and electronic ticketing. Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics Company, Ltd. is reportedly the producer of the chips for the national card.
Established in 1992, GuangDong JinXiang Golden Card Co.,Ltd., Guangzhou, is a key player in the design and manufacturing of smart cards as well as scratch cards, barcode cards and magnetic stripe cards, reportedly is capable of producing 400,000 common cards and 60,000 smart card daily.
Founded in 1996, Shenzhen Hyan Microelectronic Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, is another major RFID manufacturer, featuring patented automatic RFID production lines for its smart labels and contactless cards.
Confidex, the Finland-based RFID tag design and manufacturing specialist, announced in August 2006 that Guangshen Railway Company Ltd., part of the world’s largest public transport operator, Ministry of Railways of China, selected Confidex’s subsidiary, XinTag, in Guangzhou, China, as the supplier of contactless limited use tickets. Under the five-year contract, Confidex is to provide 125 million RFID tickets, with deliveries that started in October 2006.
Also in 2006, Symbol Technologies, Inc., now part of Motorola, was selected by China Post to supply RFID technology to track express mail bags within the postal district of Shanghai (Shanghai Post).
Another important leader is ASK-TongFang, a joint venture between France-based ASK SA (France) and Tsinghua Tongfang Limited of Beijing, is a major leader in paper-based RFID electronic tickets in China.
Luggage tags are another key effort. Motorola, Avery Dennison RFID Division, and U.S.-based printer Print-O-Tape are collaborating on a project to supply Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) with up to 70 million radio frequency identification (RFID) enabled baggage tracking tags.