With India’s solar cell and module manufacturing capacity at about 1,200MW and 5,600MW respectively in April this year, Bridge to India's Jyoti Gulia looks at the plight of domestic manufacturers in the face of China's traditional dominance of the sector.
Integrated PV manufacturer SolarWorld has started using two module assembly subcontractors to boost capacity to meet demand in the US and Europe, according to the company’s first half 2016 financial report.
PV and electronics equipment manufacturing and automation specialist Manz AG has reported continued demand for automation system in China for solar manufacturing applications that have generated €17.5 million in first half year revenue, up 66.7% from the prior year period.
During the period 2006 to 2011, equipment spending for solar manufacturing was a really big deal for capital equipment suppliers. Companies such as GT Advanced Technologies (then GT Solar) and Applied Materials (serving thin-film and c-Si expansions alike) were clocking up billion-dollar plus backlogs.
PV inverter manufacturer SMA Solar Technology said it would close production facilities in Denver, US, and Cape Town, South Africa on continued competition issues and consolidate global inverter production in Germany and China.
High-efficiency PV module producer and project developer SunPower said it was reducing its focus in PV power plant development outside the US and focusing more resources to the distributed generation market in the US.
China-based polysilicon and wafer producer Daqo New Energy has reported record production and financial metrics on strong demand in the second quarter of 2016.
Leading CdTe thin-film producer First Solar is undergoing a mid-year restructuring that includes cost cutting activities that should generate a US$2 billion balance sheet cushion against changing solar business dynamics and a looming revenue and shipment hole facing the company in 2017.
With First Solar’s revenue and shipment guidance unchanged and basically locked-in for 2016, despite solar industry dynamics becoming increasingly fluid, filling demand for 3GW of thin-film module capacity in 2017 has become a priority for management as a rather large hole in bookings is proving difficult to fill.
Recent first half 2016 downstream PV installation figures for China have led industry advisory firm AECEA to project full-year figures could be in the 25GW to 30GW range, significantly ahead of planned installs of around 18GW.
