Century Sun plans Bt2-bn factory for solar heaters
A recently formed Thai company, Century Sun Co Ltd, is planning to manufacture solar water heaters for domestic use which it claims will save between Bt10,000 and Bt40,000 a year in household electricity bills.
President and chief executive Sitichai Nuanmanee said Century Sun - a subsidiary of Master EPG (Thailand) Co Ltd - is importing solar water heaters from China, where they are manufactured by a company of the same name, Century Sun Co Ltd, in which he has a 51-per-cent stake. He said Century Sun in China had won a contract to provide solar water heaters worth Bt10 billion for all the sports stadiums to be used for the 2008 Olympic Games in China. Century Sun in Thailand plans to invest Bt2 billion to construct a plant at km 18 on the Bang Na-Trat highway to manufacture the heaters. It will be complete next year, Sitichai said. The plant will produce up to three million heating tubes - a principal component of solar water heaters - per year. Investment funds will come from Century Sun's parent company, Master EPG. He said solar water heaters were capable of helping consumers reduce their electricity use and ease the rising cost of living. Each domestic unit costs Bt48,000, but for every use of a water heater it saves Bt15 in the cost of electricity. It follows that if a customer normally uses an electric water heater twice a day, a solar water heater will save them Bt10,950 per year. The cost of the solar water heater will be saved in four years and the unit is designed to last for 15 years. Sitichai said Century Sun expected sales of Bt5 billion in its first year of operations this year. Half of this will come from the industrial market, including manufacturers, hotels and universities, 25 per cent from the agricultural industry and 25 per cent from home users. Century Sun Co Ltd in Thailand was established in October last year with a registered capital of Bt70 million. It will introduce its solar water heaters to the market this month, and will later add solar lamps and solar posts to its products. Sitichai said the company was studying the design of other appliances, such as air-conditioners and ovens for fruit and fish. "We believe that solar energy is an alternative for end-users because, with increasing oil prices, the cost of living is rising without limits," he said. He said the price of appliances using alternative energy was currently higher than conventional appliances using electricity. However, in the long term, when the company's manufacturing plans are complete, the price of alternative appliances will fall by between 20 and 30 per cent. Somluck Srimalee The Nation
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