Speakers from Korean industry, government and academia gave important insights into the emerging photovoltaic (PV) industry at the half-day PV Forum held on February 1 in Seoul, Korea, as part of SEMICON Korea. With leaders in flat panel display technology such as Samsung and LG Philips, strong government support and research infrastructure, and with an established supply chain that is extensible to PV manufacturing, many observers believe Korea may emerge to challenge for worldwide leadership in solar energy.

Sung-Ho Lee from Korea’s New and Renewable Research Center began the session with an overview of the Korean government’s policy toward new and renewable energy (NRE). NRE contributes less than 3% of Korea’s energy consumption, but has targeted 5% for 2011. While acknowledging that target may be difficult to reach, Korea today employs approximately 200 PV power plants producing 39.2 MW. The recently elected new government has expressed strong support for NRE and 2008 budget has increased 171% since 2004. Leveraging their display industry expertise, Korea’s goal is contribute 12% of the world’s PV cells and modules by 2012. Among the initiatives in place to help reach the country’s PV production objectives is the “100,000 Solar Roof Program,” created to rapidly expand the residential application of PV technology by 2012. Subsidies as much high as 60% are available to reach this goal. In-Byeong Kang, vice president and head of LG Philip’s LCD R&D Research Center, presented an overview of the current state of technology and market potential for PV in Korea. He underscored LG’s recognition of the world paradigm shift in energy

____________________________ Korea National PV Plan Cost reduction through R&D by year 2012 – Cell cost: $2.2/Wp – $1/Wp. – Cell efficiency: 14% – 18%. – System cost: $12,500/kWp – $5,000/kWp. – PV power price: $0.83/kWh – $0.26/kWh. Total Installation of 1.3 GWp by year 2012 – Residential homes (3 kWp): 10,000 (‘06); 100,000 (‘12) 300 MWp – Public buildings (10 kWp): 5,000 (‘06) ; 40,000 (‘12) 400 MWp – Commercial buildings (20 kWp): 5,000 (‘06); 30,000 (‘12) 600 MWp 10% world market share by year 2012 with the export amounting to $3 billion and employing 50,000 people Source: Prof. Junsin Yi,Sungkyunkwan Univ.(SKKU), Korea ______________________________

production and was confident of the company’s growing role in the global industry. Mr. Kang, however, acknowledged that Korean PV technology was not yet up to world standards, achieving 14-17% efficiencies, as compared to 18-20% from the industry leaders. LG has many technologies currently under review, including advanced multi-band technology and through development of simpler structures and simpler processes, costs will come down. During question and answer session, Mr. Kang acknowledged they are currently evaluating the competitive environment and closely watching many industry leaders including Sharp to learn from their results.

In a comprehensive presentation, Junsin Li from Sungkyunkwan University (SKK) provided an overview of the multitude of research projects currently underway in Korea. He described the current R&D infrastructure in Korea consisting of corporate efforts, national institutes such as the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) and Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and universities (approximately 20 have PV programs). As part of the discussion, Mr. Li also provided an overview of the current Korea PV supply chain. Covering all segments, 63 equipment companies in Korea currently supply CVD, etch, laser scribing, test, diffusion furnace, sputtering, assembly, evaporating and other equipment to the market.

Some of the R&D programs described by Mr. Li—covering the full spectrum of the industry from materials to installation systems--include:

• Rear Passivated Selective Emitter (RPSE) Cells at KRE
• Buried Contact Solar Cell (BCSE) at Samsung
• Solar Cell Metallization
• Screen Printed mc-Si Cell at KPE
• Thin Film CIS Cells
• Tri-Si Cells and Module
• Grid Connected 3kW PCS

Gaetan Rull from Yole Development, one of the leading analysts covering the PV industry, provided insights into the rapidly changing market dynamics in the solar industry. Last year was a milestone for PV as numerous new technologies such as organic, DSSC, CdTe, a-Si, CIS, and III V made first inroads into the market. He described how polysilicon shortages has spurred the development of thin film technologies and how increases in poly supply will impact further thin film penetration into the market in 2010 and beyond. In addition to market estimates of cell and module production by leading companies, Mr. Rull also provided detailed estimates of PV equipment growth over the next five years, Yole estimates that that the installed base of PV production equipment will be multiplied by more than 7 by 2012. Projections by type of equipment and for materials were also provided.

Fachri Atamrin, from Oerlikon gave the packed forum audience an overview of the company’s aggressive efforts in solar energy, providing an overview of their Micromorph process technology and the integration to FAB1200 turnkey lines. Oerlikon is in hot pursuit of grid parity by 2010 at 0.7$/Wp and is developing next generation thin film technologies for debut, also in 2010.

Christof Siebert of Trumpf furthered the international scope of the Forum by providing the latest information on the company’s power supply and laser production solutions. For thin film cells, Mr. Siebert provided detailed information on using lasers for patterning and border deletion.

Kyoung-Hoon Kang, Team Manager of the Applied Silicone Research at KCC gave an overview of the polysilicon feedstock situation, including the latest projection from China. As part of the presentation, Mr. Kang provided a detailed analysis of cost structure for PV modules, and for polysilicon production.

In summarizing the session, Eddy Blokken, SEMI Director of Technology and Standards and host for PV Forum, said,” With government commitment, a vast R&D infrastructure and established leaders in LCD technology, Korea is poised to become a world leader in the PV industry. SEMI is pleased to be a part of the industry’s development through this Forum and many other activities that are bringing the global industry together to address critical needs.”