A Study on of the Structure and Competitive Dynamics of the Thin Film Solar Cell Industry

• Main Authors: Pei-Yin Tsai, 蔡沛吟
• Other Authors: Ji-Ren Lee
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/19007101597721715348

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 國際企業學研究所 === 96 === In order to reduce the consumption of traditional petrochemical energy and carbon dioxide emissions, almost all advanced countries are vigorously seeking substitution green energies. Solar energy is the most clean and environment friendly among all green energy and the PV industry becomes one of the fastest growing industry under some government subsidy in recent years. After the fast growth period, silicon-base solar cell faced with the shortage of the raw material which led to a high price level of poly-silicon products. At the same time, the second generation thin film solar cell technology is getting mature in operation. How such an emerging technology would affect the structure and competitive dynamics of the solar industry and how potential Taiwan entrants could enter into this arena are two major issues for this thesis research. Based on the SCP paradigm and Porter’s five-force model, the current study first analyzes the current industry landscape and future prospect of the solar energy industry, which include demand analysis, identification of competitive factors and the development of alternative technologies. Based on these analyses, we then postulate the potentiality and entry strategy for potential entrants. This research suggests that the thin film technology has a great potential to substitute the existing technology since the basis of technology competition has been shifted from the superiority of conversion rate to overall power generation costs. In addition, Taiwanese companies enter into thin film solar cell industry would face huge equipment expansion and over supply situation. Given the competitive pressure from worldwide leading companies, we suggest that potential entrants leverage advantages of electronics companies and form alliances with BOS system producers or pursue vertical integration to avoid threat from direct competition from the leading companies on the manufacturing cost. Implications of these results to practices and future research are also discussed.