LG Business Group has been reenergizing the photovoltaic power business that had been on hold due to its poor performance.

The business group has announced a plan to install photovoltaic power modules on the rooftops of all plants of its subsidiaries. Starting with the Paju plant of LG Display in March, the plan calls for installing photovoltaic power modules with a combined capacity of 19MW on 19 sites of LG subsidiaries across the nation, including LG Electronics, LG Innotek, LG Household & Health Care, and LG Hausys.

LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo (photo: courtesy of LG Group, article by S. Y. Kim)

LG’s decision to reenergize the photovoltaic power business comes as LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo called for designating energy and secondary battery businesses as new growth engines and yielding significant performances early this year, business analysts said.

As the light at the end of tunnel is in sight for the global photovoltaic power industry, which has undergone severe restructuring, there are hopes of advancing break-event points with polysilicon prices returning to normal.

LG Group Chairman Koo, in his New Year’s message, stressed nurturing new businesses into global powerhouses. 

A group official said the group will not devote all its energy to fostering the photovoltaic power business, but the official confirmed that the business sector is one of the next-generation growth engines the business group plans to nurture. The official went on to say that the group’s decision to install photovoltaic power modules on the roofs of plants of its subsidiaries is part of efforts to strengthen its presence in the energy sector.

In a related development, SERVEONE, one of the group’s subsidiaries, signed an MOU on the installation of photovoltaic power modules on plant roofs with Korea Midland Power Co. on Feb. 12. If all photovoltaic power units are in operation as planned, they will likely produce a combined 22.8GW of electricity yearly, the equivalent annual electricity requirements of 7,600 households.

LG Group’s strategy is not to get the planned photovoltaic power units to generate electricity and operate the plants of its subsidiaries, but to sell the power to neighborhood residents, contributing to easing a power shortage and establishing a business platform to nurture the business group as a global photovoltaic power provider. 

The business group launched an ambitious scheme to enter the photovoltaic power business in 2007, but it suffered setbacks due to the global recession. LG Group started with the establishment of LG Solar Energy, charged with the photovoltaic power generation business. LG’s photovoltaic power business was vertically integrated with LG Chem, which was producing polysilicon, LG Siltron, which turns out wafers, and LG Electronics, producing photovoltaic power battery modules. LG subsidiaries put on hold or cut short the photovoltaic power business in the wake of a global financial crisis in 2007. Global photovoltaic power companies have undergone severe restructuring, and global market conditions have improved with polysilicon prices on the rise due to a surge in demand in such countries as the United States, China, and Japan. 

Things have changed recently, however, as the global photovoltaic power industry has begun to show signs of a turnaround.