Global Glass Giant Saint Gobain is expanding its presence in the Solar Energy Manufacturing by partnering with Hyundai Heavy Industries to build a CIGs plant in South Korea with a $198 mm investment.The 50:50 JV which will be known as Hyundai Avancis will be situated in South Korea which is one of the hottest Green Geographies in the world currently.South Korean Companies have massively increased their Investments in the Renewable Energy Area with the like of Hyundai,Daewoo,Hanwha,Samsung,LG,SK Energy rapidly expanding their Green Footprint.Note Hyundai Heavy Industries has a major presence in the crystalline silicon technology segment with 330 MW of Capacity which is being further expanded to 600 MW.Along With other Korean Shipbuilders,Hyundai Heavy Industries has started a major Wind Turbine Manufacturing Division as well.

Saint Gobain Solar Energy Investment Growing

Saint Gobain like Semiconductor Giant TSMC is betting on Copper Indium Gallium Selenium (CIGs) Technology rather than the mainstream crystalline silicon technology.CIGs is getting the most significant investments these days compared to other thin film technology.Yesterday Ascent Solar (ASTI) got an IEC certification for its flexible modules which would enable it to target the mainstream rooftop market from niche applications earlier.Honda is expanding it presence in the US Market using CIGs technology as well which it has been developing over the last 5 years. Miasole has improved the efficiency and costs of it CIGs greatly while Nanosolar can’t be counted out because of its strong backers.Solyndra however remains mostly in the shadows despite around $1 billion in private investment.Stion is another strong contender partnering with TSMC and also thinking of opening a plant in Taiwan on its own as well.Saint Gobain is already a big player in the solar market as it suppliers glass to a lot of solar companies for their modules.Getting into panel manufacturing will further allow it to get a foothold of this new potentially giant industry.Du Pont,Dow Chemicals,Corning all have considerable presence in the solar equipment market as well.