Nan Ya Photonics Incorporation (NYPI), a leading LED lighting manufacturer, has begun to develop system products over the past two years. The company removed its mid-to-upstream LED production lines in 2016. In order to operate in coordination with the government’s green energy policies and expand revenue, NYPI conducted transformation in 2H16 and entered the green energy industry. LEDinside had the privilege to interview the vice president of NYPI, Jung-huang Lo, to discuss about NYPI’s transformation process and its future business direction.

LED lighting seeks to differentiate

In order to enhance the competitiveness of the company, NYPI has switched the operation to “One-Stop Shop” mode a few years ago: Aside from the commercial LED lighting sales, the company added design, construction, management, installation, and after-sales service to expand the industrial lighting area. Since NYPI has owned a type of electrical installation license, there’s less concern for construction.

For the overseas markets, NYPI hopes to open up overseas markets. For example, there are still a higher proportion of people that prefer to use traditional lamps in the US. Since 2016, NYPI has been promoting its LED lights at its Texas factory in the US. As for the Philippines, due to the high electricity prices, LED lighting has great development opportunity in the Philippines. NYPI already has built a number of factories in the Philippines. Lo estimated that the company’s growth will increase in the US and Philippines in 2017.

In order to conduct business transformation, NYPI will only undertake engineering projects for lighting and focus on offices for commercial lighting to differentiate with other manufacturers at the LED lighting industry. Lo indicated that pure lighting developers can barely survive in the market and have to think of ways to change their operations. That’s also why NYPI recently chose to enter the solar PV engineering and actively conduct transformation.

Achieve innovative energy, energy storage, and energy saving altogether

Lo further indicated that PV technology is mature in Taiwan. NYPI has been discussing several PV projects with AUO, Solartech, and other solar panel manufacturers. By doing so, the company’s philosophy and practice have shifted from “energy saving” to “energy saving, innovative energy, and energy storage”. Starting from 2017, NYPI will undertake roof-top PV projects for enterprises, including factories and gas stations. 

In addition to the concept of solar PV development, NYPI also integrated the lithium-ion battery raw materials and modules produced by the lithium-ion battery department of its parent company, Formosa Plastics Transport Corporation, combining solar PV, lithium-ion batteries and modules into a system product. The “LED lighting car” revealed at this year’s LED exhibition in Taiwan is the exact system product that combines solar PV panels, lithium battery energy storage, and LED lighting.

This product is commissioned by a US client, suitable for construction development lighting in suburban areas. There’s GPS tracking function built in the lithium battery to prevent battery being stolen. But so far there’s no demand for this product in Taiwan.  

Looking ahead, Taiwan will be NYPI’s major target market for solar PV projects. In 2017, the company has a 1.7MW factory roof-top project. PV project is expected to represent 30% of NYPI’s total revenue and they are expected to invest NT$ 130 million in solar PV project in 2017.