Solar Flare

International investors can be forgiven for never having heard of Motech, E-Ton or Sino-American Silicon. Compared with better-known Taiwan-based chip giants such as Taiwan Semiconductor and United Microelectronics, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, these three Taiwanese semiconductor plays have flown under most people's radar.

Until now. Continuing high oil prices and growing concern over sustainable energy have made them the hottest stocks in the tech-heavy Taiwan Stock Exchange. Motech and E-Ton Solar make photovoltaic (PV) semiconductors, better known as solar cells. Sino-American is in the business of supplying them with silicon wafers, which are the basic...

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