TSMC approved the appropriation of $50 million for ''possible use'' in investment in solar energy-related areas. No other details were given, however.

The silicon foundry giant has also approved capital appropriations of $1.117 billion to expand 45-nm process capacity and install 32-nm process capacity.

The company already announced plans to raise its capital spending. Earlier this month, TSMC posted strong results in the second quarter and raised its capital spending for 2009.

There is a sea of change at TSMC. In June, Morris Chang reassumed control of TSMC. At the time, TSMC said its board named Chang to serve as chief executive, along with his current position as chairman. He assumed the CEO title from Rick Tsai, who was appointed president and CEO of TSMC in 2005.

Chang assumed day-to-day control of the foundry giant. In his new role, Tsai will serve as president of the New Business Development Organization, reporting directly to Chang. The group will focus on new growth markets, such as LED and solar

TSMC is reportedly looking to invest in a solar vendor in Taiwan.

Solar is down in the dumps, however. Total solar panel production in 2009 will grow by 14.3 percent, to 7.5 Gigawatts (GW), up from 6.5GW in 2008, according to a forecast by market research firm iSuppli. The only snag is that only 3.9 GW worth of installations will take place this year. In other words, almost one out of every two panels produced in 2009 will not be installed but stored in inventory, iSuppli (El Sequndo, Calif.) notified.

By: DocMemory
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