AUO teams up with Germany's Abakus to tap market for solar energy.

Taipei, Nov. 24, 2009 (CENS)--The Taiwan-based AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), a globally leading maker of display panels, has teamed up with Germany's Abakus Solar AG, a supplier of integrated photovoltaic systems, to tap the global market for solar energy, according to company sources.

Through cooperating with the German partner, AUO hopes to build a solid overseas foothold in Germany, which absorbs 40% of the global supply of solar energy products a year as the largest market of the world, as its major step into the green industry. If the cooperation works, the firm's shipment of solar products is very likely to surge to over 100 megawatt in 2010 from 2009, AUO estimates.

With strong ambition to tap the market for solar energy, the firm has reinvested in M.Setek Co., Ltd. of Japan to secure supply of raw materials, including polysilicon and monocrystal silicon wafers, for upstream production of solar cells. The company is also actively seeking cooperation with existing suppliers in midstream and downstream segments of cells, modules and system integration.

AUO claims that it plans to build a fully integrated supply chain of solar energy, and hence is going to recruit more new workers to expand its solar energy division. The firm is expected to ship 15-20 megawatt of solar energy in 2009.

The firm is well on its way to venturing into the solar energy industry in the fourth quarter of this year, as it has won several tenders for construction of a solar power generation station with annual output of 3 megawatt and BIPV (building integrated photovoltaic) in Europe.

Noteworthy is that AUO has also joined a project raised by Deutsche Energie Agentur GmbH and Germany's Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology of construction of Photovoltaic Frisbee Roof at Taipei European School as part of its effort to explore the European market. The solar Frisbee roof has already been completed.