"Research and Development"

With the domestic wire and cable industry having matured and growing steadily, Ta Ya maintains an entrepreneur spirit of making continuous enhancements through active investment in the research and development of various products to reinforce our competitive advantage. In 2016, Ta Ya spent NT$34.285 million or 0.48% of its net revenues in research and development.

Stranded Conductor Optical Fiber Composite Cable

Given that electricity loss is positively correlated to the square of the current, transmission losses can be minimized by transferring electricity with high voltage and low current. Knowing this, Ta Ya developed the industry-first 161kV and 345kV XLPE cables, which significantly increase the production capacity of high-voltage cables in Taiwan while helping Taipower lower transmission losses substantially. As the demand on load centers increase, however, the cross-sectional area of cable conductors have reached their limit in regular manufacturing facilities, thus limiting transmission capacity. Also, unavailable crosssectional areas of cable conductors have increased, resulting in higher electricity loss. To break through these limitations, Ta Ya is actively developing high-transmission capacity conductors to minimize conductor loss from the skin and proximity effects.

The stranded conductor is able to lower conductor usage, or transmit more electricity with the same conductor cross-sectional area (i.e. with the same amount of copper), while transmitting the same electricity (MVA). The design lowers conductor loss, heat, and usage of copper, insulation, and anti-corrosion covering.

Solar Energy DC Cable

To satisfy the increasing scope and capacity of solar power plants, Ta Ya has passed tests and obtained certification from the Japan Electric Cable Technology Center (JECTEC) for its 1500V DC cables (PV-CQ), while Ta Heng has also obtained TUV certification for 600V DC cables. These cables are characterized by features such as high DC voltage, weather resistance, heat resistance, low smoke and halogenfree that minimize material wear, increase reliability, and contribute to the environment over the long term.

Development of Optical Fiber Composite Floating Solar Cables

Photovoltaic technology has developed rapidly in recent years. The floating solar power system developed in Taiwan is designed with floating solar panels on lakes, reservoirs, ponds, and retention basins to create more areas for setup of solar power systems. This is a new and feasible trend of development. To meet the requirements of the development, we developed special optical fiber composite floating solar cables with electricity and signal transmission functions to forge ahead in the application of floating solar power stations.

New Opportunities with Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 refers to the wireless control, automation, digitization, and intelligentization of manufacturing and is also known as the fourth industrial revolution. Its influence is evident in the increased permeation of wireless communication, smart control, and digitization of cables. To help industries face the challenges and demands of the future, Ta Ya is committed to developing digital and optical cables, such as the Cat series, optical fibers for functional locations (e.g. flat optical cables, micro-cluster optical cables), and optical fiber composite control cables. It is also developing high-frequency, high-speed, large-capacity signal transmission electric and optical cables for its clients.

To meet future demands for smart and automated production equipment (e.g. robots, robot arms), Ta Ya has begun developing cables in ultra-small sizes with bending resistance, small-bend radius, flexibility, anti-interference shielding, and have high-frequency, high-capacity, and high-speed transmission capabilities. These cables also have surge protection, attenuating surge suppression, a long service life, and are highly reliable.

Furthermore, as intelligent equipment become popular, factories will require more protection against electrical surge and electromagnetic interference. To address this concern, Ta Ya has successfully designed a lightning protection cable that can minimize damages in case of a lightning strike. The lightning protection cable has the ability to quickly direct lightning currents away and reduce ground potential rise, thus prevent damage to intelligent equipment. Meanwhile, Ta Ya will also engage automated factories, robotics manufacturers, power controller and converter manufacturers, and surveillance system providers to explore new business relationships that would satisfy their needs.

Offshore Power Grid and Submarine Cable

Ta Ya is Taiwan’s only cable manufacturer to invest in the development of submarine cables. Since March 2014, Ta Ya has been spearheading the “Renewable Energy Offshore Power Grid Research Project” in collaboration with Ta Ho, MIRDC (Metal Industries Research & Development Center) and NTOU (National Taiwan Ocean University). The project began by measuring wave strength, current and depth of NTOU’s marine test field; this data was further analyzed to determine the design, production, quality and deployment of submarine cables. The project led to the successful development of 33kV mediumvoltage, optical fiber composite submarine cable, which can be applied to connect offshore wind turbines and transmit electricity to remote islands. Function-wise, the cable does more than just transmit electricity, but can also be used for wind turbine control, data transmission, and real-time capacity monitoring. With regards to submarine power grid, the Company had completed three break-through projects in 2014, namely: “Threephase Double Armor Submarine Cable Design and Offshore Submarine Power Grid Planning,” “Submarine Cable Connection Technology and Installation,” and “Submarine Cable Connector Development.” Ta Ya has taken this initiative further to develop a malfunction detection and realtime monitoring system for offshore power grids.

In 2014, Ta Ya assigned employees to study“ submarine cable design and dynamic simulation analysis” at ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute), which involved the use of advanced software to simulate and analyze dynamic movements of submarine cables. The Company continued working with ITRI in 2015 to design, manufacture, test and validate dynamic (umbilical) submarine cables for tidal power generation. The dynamic (umbilical) submarine cable was connected to ITRI’s Keelung tidal power generator in 2016, in order to verify whether the dynamic submarine cable is able to handle power transmission in rough seas.

In addition to developing submarine cables for various uses, Ta Ya also joins Ta Ho in the planning and construction of offshore power grids and the deployment of submarine cables. In view of increasing demand for marine engineering in the future, Ta Heng has actively invested into the research of boat cables and assists customers in obtaining the necessary certification.

Construction of a Smart Wire and Cable Factory

The energy and telecom communication cable plant plans to build a smart wire and cable factory. The first task is to integrate manufacturing facilities, improve the accuracy of the existing equipment, and establish SOPs to ensure process capability with standardized equipment and machinery. SCADA will be used for direct supervision of equipment information through the operation system. Processes and steps that need more time or energy will be integrated. Online detection and a simulation and calculation program will be set up. Failure/maintenance of the preservation and production history systems will be predicted using software. These will be used in the management of the energy, material, and process parameters to minimize or eliminate waste, increase production efficiency and capacity, and improve the competitiveness of the industry.

The High-lubricity Enameled Wires

The R&D department at Ta Ya’s magnet wire business group continues to minimize the use of hazardous substances. In an attempt to reduce the impact of organic solvents to the environment, Ta Ya has been developing high-lubricity enameled wires in several varieties, all of which use lesser wax oil during production. The lubricity of enameled magnet wires can be presented using coefficient of static friction, and the Company’s high-lubricity enameled wires have been measured with a coefficient as low as 0.065, which is very close to the 0.05 of ordinary wax oil-based products. Mass production and delivery of high-lubricity enameled wires became stable in 2015, and the production scale was increased continuously in 2016. Consumption of the wax oil is probably reduced by 130 kg every month.