Samsung Takes Steps To Enter The Solar Industry
KOREA HERALD - Samsung Electronics has taken its first step towards the mass-production of its solar cells with the launch of a pilot production line for solar cells in Giheung early this month. The Korean company held a ceremony yesterday to mark the opening of its R&D and testing facility for crystalline silicon solar cells. With the launch of the solar cell line, Samsung seeks to further raise its solar cell conversion efficiency for mass production, with a goal to top the solar cell market in 2015.
A Samsung spokesperson said the company will decide when to mass produce its solar cells after running the pilot line.
"We have achieved one of the industry's leading solar cell conversion rates," the spokesperson said. He did not give a specific figure, but said its conversion rate is between 15 percent and 20 percent.
A solar cell's energy conversion efficiency refers to the percentage of power converted from absorbed sunlight to electrical energy, and is key to reducing manufacturing costs for solar cell modules, Samsung said.
Samsung, the world's top maker of memory chips and flat-screen panels, seeks to leverage its manufacturing technologies to raise cost efficiency in solar cell production.
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