Taiwan's solar manufacturing industry is expanding at a rapid rate and could surpass both Germany and Japan in the year ahead to become the No. 2 solar maker in the world behind China, according to a Reuters report.
The country has long been a successful producer semiconductors and LCD technology. Now it is turning that expertise towards the solar industry with the intent of capture a large slice of the $35 billion global market.
The nation's largest firms--TSMC (NYSE: TSM), UMC (NYSE: UMC) and AU Optronics (NYSE: AUO)--are reportedly acquiring smaller solar cell companies and building large production facilities.
The Taiwan giants are also forming partnerships to produce solar cells for established companies like SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA).
In June, TSMC announced plans to invest $50 million for a 21% stake in U.S.-based solar start-up Stion Corp
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