台灣在全球太陽光電產業競爭策略分析

Abstract

能源需求成長，主要石化能源逐漸枯竭，突顯再生能源的重要性及迫切性，促使近年來石化能源使用年限議題一再被強調，地球暖化現象持續惡化，以及國際原油價格持續盤旋於高檔，再生能源的應用更加受到重視，而歷年各種能源的使用比例，以石油、天然氣及煤礦為主，約占整體使用比重的70%以上，但隨著再生能源的開發，各國政府也致力於提高再生能源的使用的比例，其中因太陽能具有無污染、太陽光資源取得的便利性、發電品質穩定及發電成本逐年降低，因此各國政府近幾年皆加強於太陽光電產業之推動，伴隨著需求大幅成長造成的供不應求，產業內原有的廠商為求更大的規模經濟效益，紛紛宣佈大幅度擴產，同時也吸引了更多的新進者投入，因此可以預見太陽光電產業的未來競爭將更趨激烈。 全球太陽光電產業發展，大部分的廠商都以垂直整合策略模式經營；但隨著產業生命週期由萌芽期逐漸進入成長期，市場需求成長量大幅成長，規模經濟效益得以發揮，專業分工的策略經營模式也有相當不錯的經營績效，此一專業垂直分工的模式，符合台灣半導體等產業之發展優勢，及公司規模大部份為中小企業，具有彈性製程能力及經營。若由整體產業價值鏈討論，先天上台灣受限於國內市場較小，且終端系統應用出口性弱；在上游的發展上，雖然台灣IC產業發展競爭力強，但上游原材料矽材多仰賴進口，因此台灣在太陽光電產業的發展上呈現上下缺乏的中廣型態。因此未來在面對全球主要領導廠商的垂直整合及水平整併的策略，台灣太陽光電產業的競爭優勢為何，本研究將以Porter的鑽石模型及SWOT作總體性的分析，然後再針對個別標竿廠商作深入發展策略分析。本研究將探討台灣在不同於先進國家太陽光電產業發展之驅動力來自於政府政策激勵與獎勵補貼方案，如何以其獨特的競爭優勢－藉由長期半導體、TFT-LCD、LED等產業累積的能量及產業群聚等因素與國際大廠競爭。 德國及日本主要廠商於產業發展初期即已進入，由於產業發展不成熟，因此多以垂直整合的經營策略，發展自給自足的模式藉以提升其競爭力。台灣則以專業分工的模式進入產業，以彈性的應變及製程的專業管理來加強其競爭優勢。但台灣具有過去長期累積的半導體、資訊電子及TFT-LCD等產業的技術能量與優勢的產業群聚，因此台灣的太陽光電產業是具有相對競爭優勢。太陽光電產業的競爭關鍵短期在於成本的降低，其發展策略可藉由規模經濟效益、提升光電轉換效率、節省原材料的使用及掌握上游原材料的穩定供應等四方面來因應；長期的發展上，必須持續研發新材料及新技術，避免破壞性創新效應，確保競爭優勢。同樣地，台灣在太陽光電產業的發展上，在專利的保護上相對較弱，若不能提升這方面的能量，未來將會面臨中國具有優勢人工成本的嚴苛挑戰。而且台灣缺乏最上游的原料製造廠商，產業結構不夠完善，未來也必須強化產業架構完整性，加強產業整體的競爭優勢。

As demand for energy grows and principal fossil energies are increasingly exhausted, the importance and urgency of the development of renewable energies are becoming abundantly clear while more and more attention is being focused on the remaining life of the world’s fossil energy reserve. Against the backdrop of deteriorating global warming and skyrocketing oil prices, application of renewable energies has attracted more attention than ever before. Traditionally, oil, natural gas and coal combined make up over 70% of energy in use; however, as a result of new advancements in renewable energies, governments around the globe are now committed to enhancing their shares in energy utilization. In particular, solar energy offers the benefits of zero pollution, ready availability of solar light resources, reliable quality and decreasing cost of the generated electricity; consequently, many counties have been actively promoting the photovoltaic industry in recent years. As market demand continues to outpace supply growth, incumbent suppliers are scrambling to significantly expand their production capacity in order to achieve economy of scale. In the meantime, a large number of newcomers have also been enticed into entering this market. Therefore, competition in the photovoltaic industry is expected to further intensify going forward. The majority of global players in the photovoltaic industry have been operating on the strategy of vertical integration. However, as the industrial lifecycle moves from the embryonic stage into the growth stage, market demand is increasing exponentially and the benefits of economy of scale are being realized. As a result, the approach of professional specialization has also yielded encouraging results. Given the competitive advantages of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry and the fact that the bulk of the country’s private sector is comprised of small and medium sized companies with remarkable flexibility in manufacturing and business operation, this particular model of vertical specialization is well suited to Taiwan. In terms of the industrial value chain, Taiwan is disadvantaged by its small domestic market and weakness in export of end-use system applications. As for the development of upstream sectors, despite the strong IC industrial base, Taiwan is burdened by an over-reliance on imports for the supply of the raw material Silicon. Consequently, Taiwan’s photovoltaic industry is characterized by a developmental imbalance where the midstream part of the chain is much more established than the ineffectual upstream and downstream segments. This leads to the question of how Taiwan should position its photovoltaic industry in the face of aggressive vertical integration and horizontal consolidation moves carried out by leading global players. This paper employs Porter’s Diamond Model, engages in comprehensive SWOT analysis and examines closely the development strategies adopted by a number of benchmark companies. This paper will explore how Taiwan is different from other advanced countries in terms of driving the photovoltaic industry through enabling polices and incentive programs implemented by the government. The focus is on how to leverage Taiwan’s unique competitive advantages – particularly the accumulated capacity built up by the semiconductor, TFT-LCD and LED sectors over a long period of time and the resulting industrial clusters – in order to compete effectively against the leading companies in the world. German and Japanese companies entered this industry at its early stage. Due to lack of industrial maturity at that time, they had to, for the most part, adopt the strategy of vertical integration as well as an operation model centered on self-sufficiency in order to stay competitive. In contrast, Taiwan came in with the professional specialization approach which aims to build competitive advantages on the strengths of flexible adaptation and professional management of the manufacturing processes. Comparatively speaking, as far as the development of the photovoltaic industry is concerned, Taiwan is better positioned because of its superior technical capacity and industrial clusters that have been established by the semiconductor, IT and TFT-LCD sectors after an extended period of success. In the short term, the key to competitiveness in the solar energy photovoltaic industry will be cost reduction, and a good response strategy should contain the following 4 elements: enlarged economy of scale, enhanced photo-electronic conversion efficiency, increased savings on raw materials used, and ensured supply of raw materials from upstream sources. For the long run, competitive advantages must be maintained through research and development of new materials and technologies in order to protect against disruptive innovations. In addition, Taiwan is still behind in patent protection for the photovoltaic industry. Failure to enhance capacity in this regard will translate to steeper challenges posed by China as the latter has a clear cost advantage. Furthermore, since there is no upstream manufacturers of raw materials in Taiwan, the supply chain still has a missing link. This shortcoming in the underlying industrial structure must be bridged before the level of competitiveness for the entire industry can be further enhanced.