AUO to Buy Into M. Setek to Tap Solar Market

AU Optronics Corp. (AUO) recently announced it will buy a 50% share in polycrystalline silicon maker M. Setek Co., Ltd. of Japan for US$125 million.

The acquisition will offer AUO access to the solar-energy business, which the LCD maker has been watching for a while. The company chairman, K.Y. Lee said green-energy industries have become attractive to big enterprises, ith energy saving and clean energy emerging as trends.

AUO, Taiwan`s No.1 manufacturer of thin-film transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, will become another major Taiwanese enterprise to enter into the solar-energy industry, trailing heavyweights as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC), Formosa Plastics Corp. and Tatung Corp.

Founded to produce monocrystalline-silicon wafers, M. Setek recently diversified into production of polycrystalline silicon. The company now puts out 3,000 metric tons of polycrystalline silicon a year, enough for making 300 megawatts of solar cells.

In Taiwan, Motech Industrial Inc. and Taiwan Polysilicon Corp. have begun producing polycrystalline silicon, while Wafer Works Corp. and Sino-American Silicon Products Inc. are silicon-wafer makers, they lack integrated-manufacturing capability. Acquiring M. Setek will make AUO the first integrated solar-materials maker in Taiwan.