After decades of shipping mainly agricultural and other industrial products, a new era of exports looms, comprising products that are more research-and-development based, in particular in the field of solar-cell technology.

The technology is the fruit of eight years of hard work by 71 scientists at the Institute of Solar Energy Technology Development (ISET) in Pathum Thani's Thailand Science Park.

"We are in talks with a German company to become our agent and work on behalf of us to sell the technology to Asian countries, targeting China and Taiwan in particular," said Porponth Sichanugrist, a deputy director of the Technology Management Centre at the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA).

"Our technology should be able to compete in Asian markets as it is designed for the climate in this region, and its efficiency meets international standards," said Porponth, who is also one of the scientists who developed the technology.

Called a hybrid system, the Thai solar technology is of the thin-film type, a combination of two other types of technology - thin silicon film and amorphous silicon.

"Solar-cell products sold today, including those in Thailand, are mostly the thick-film type, which is yesterday's technology. Ours is tomorrow's technology - a thin-film one, which is being researched worldwide and is ready to be commercialised very soon," he explained.

While the efficiency of solar-cell products sold in the world market now is about 7-10 per cent, Thailand's solar-cell efficiency is 10 per cent per three square centimetres, the scientist explained.

Above all, it is cheaper than the current technology, Porponth said.

"Due to its thin-film characteristic, the cost of the raw material is lower. Our product is also usable at a wide range of temperatures - from 25 to 60 degrees Celsius - and is suitable for the Asian climate," he said.

The technology sells for a Bt50-million initial payment plus 2 per cent royalty on all products sold using the technology.

"It should bring huge amounts of foreign currency into the country," ISET's Porponth said.

However, NSTDA director Sakarindr Bhumiratana said negotiations with foreign companies were still on, and there is also a debate within the agency whether to give priority to selling the technology abroad or to domestic customers.

"In my opinion, the local market should be our first priority for use of our proven technology as public money was used to conduct the research and development," he said.

"As an option, though foreigners could make investments, the factories that produce the solar cells using our technology should be located in Thailand. That would generate more jobs for Thais and also encourage Thai industries in general," he said.

"The mission of NSTDA is not only to create technology and sell it, but also strengthen the capability of Thai industrialists," he added.

According to Porponth, apart from targeting the Chinese and Taiwanese markets, two Thai investors are also dealing with ISET solar-cell technology. Both plan to set up solar-cell factories.

"The names of the two companies cannot be revealed at this stage due to business reasons, but one is in the lignite business and the other is in the oil business," he said.

Two other local solar-energy companies listed on the stock market have also expressed interest in buying the technology, Porponth added.

The hybrid solar-cell technology has been an ISET project since 1998 and it completed its first phase in 2005. The research project is funded by the Oil Fund to the tune of Bt120 million and it also received another Bt80 million from the state budget through NSTDA for eight years of research, which is a three-year delay from the initial plan.

"Emphasis on solar energy is growing rapidly, so we have had to work 24 hours a day for years to achieve the success we have had, with limited budget and staff," Porponth said.

Fortunately, the yields have been impressive and the second phase has been approved with a more aggressive goal, achieving 14-per-cent efficiency from the present 10 per cent, Porponth said.

"We received the biggest ever budget allocation this year - Bt250 million, with the promise of Bt1 billion in total in the next five years - due to our past success. We hope we can do much more development," he said.

Apart from the hybrid technology, ISET is developing related manufacturing processes and its application for various types of products for use on the roofs of general household premises.

ISET is also looking at raising the efficiency of hybrid solar-energy technology, its application for hot-water and air-conditioning systems, its application at power plants to generate electricity with a three-megawatt-per-year capacity, its use in tropical areas and also using nanotechnology in its production.

"We aim to develop technology for Thai industrialists, but it is not that easy when we step into the business world," Porponth said.

During the past eight years, ISET has had some bitter experiences dealing with Thai businesses. In its worst experience, a company refused to pay royalties despite reaping huge gains from the technology. Porponth said the company had imported solar-cell technology with 5-per-cent efficiency for the domestic market. ISET helped the company raise its efficiency to 7 per cent, which enabled it to win a government tender. The company is now exporting products worth Bt1 billion, the researcher said, but refuses to pay any royalty.

The researcher said that even though the company agreed to pay Bt10 million as a down payment in the first year, it refused to pay further royalty fees, which were set at 2 per cent of its sales volume. The case is now in court.

"It was partly due to our poor experience in doing business and we will improve on this in the next deal," he said.

Kamol Sukin

The Nation