SEMI's International Standards Committee (ISC) has officially approved the creation of a China Photovoltaic Standards Committee, to more directly address and direct domestic development of solar PV technology standards.

January 11, 2012 - SEMI's International Standards Committee (ISC) has officially approved the creation of a China Photovoltaic Standards Committee, to more directly address and direct domestic development of solar PV technology standards. Zhang Guangchun, SVP at Wuxi Suntech Power, will chair the new China Photovoltaic Standards Committee, with Liu Jun from the China Electronics Standardization Institute as a director. (SEMI's International Standards Committee is led by ASE exec Ho-Ming Tong.)

China's PV industry evolution from a "rough development mode" to one guided by feed-in tariffs (FiT) is "undoubtedly a green light for the beginning of a photovoltaic applications market," says SEMI in a statement. The group, which is broadening from its origins in semiconductor manufacturing to related industries which share similar manufacturing processes, including solar PV (as well as others e.g. LEDs), feels it can play a significant role with its "core values" of technology and standards. (It's already pushed for standards in silicon feedstocks and in module transport, for example.) SEMI counts more than 500 of its global members as having business in solar PV, from production equipment to raw materials to cell manufacturing technology.