Although heavily hyped as a low-cost alternative to conventional oil-based PV backsheet materials, start-up BioSolar said that it was to develop a new bio-based backsheet material that would aim to be of even lower cost in order to capture more customers. Back in March, 2011 the company had said it was supplying sample material for PV module manufacturers based in Asia for evaluation.
Despite improving business conditions for its US residential and utility-scale businesses that have led to capacity utilization rates topping 90%, SunPower’s management ruled out the need for a capital spending increase. Debottlenecking and new process migrations for all lines at Fab 2 and Fab 3 would negate the need for a new capital equipment spending cycle until some time in the first-half of 2014, which would then require the construction of Fab 4.
Concerns of Chinese retaliation against US countervailing and anti-dumping duties have manifested themselves in a complaint filed to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. MOFCOM has today released a statement regarding an application requesting an anti-dumping investigation into US and South Korean exports to China. On behalf of the Chinese solar industry, Jiangsu Silicon Technology Development, LDK Solar, Luoyan Sino-Silicon high-tech and New Energy, filed the complaint on July 2. Interested parties have 20 days to respond to the complaint.
For leading c-Si manufacturers, three issues have been influencing $/W cost metrics during the past couple of years: blended silicon cost, non-silicon process cost, and cell efficiency/module power.
The following article comments on the ongoing discussion of the grid parity issue. Although considerable movement can be observed in how PV is thought of in the industry, this article aims to point out the consequences of the necessary transition from incentive to non-incentive markets.
To understand the potential impact of the preliminary US Department of Commerce ruling regarding import duties for c-Si modules that contain c-Si cells manufactured within China, it is necessary to clarify what the US market represents to leading tier 1 Chinese c-Si module suppliers (in absolute terms), as well as relative to the overall (global) market.
Delayed fourth quarter and full-year results at LDK Solar show the full extent of the challenges facing the integrated PV manufacturer. Having already revised downwards its fourth quarter figures, the company missed revenue guidance and guided first quarter revenue to levels not seen since the second quarter of 2009. Loss from operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 was US$531.4 million on the back of heavy write downs across the company, leading to a net loss of US$588.7 million. Revenue reached US$2.15 billion in 2011, compared to US$2.5 billion in 2010.
Emphasis on high-performance module production and increased shipments to markets such as the US and Japan, to take advantage of growing utility-scale and residential businesses respectively, was a key highlight in JA Solar’s quarterly conference call. China, would also receive greater attention as partnerships with utility customers expanded its pipeline.
Tough market conditions for Hanwha SolarOne led to fourth quarter losses and sliding shipments and average selling prices, which were below in-house manufacturing costs. Although the company posted 2011 revenue above the US$1.0 billion level, the company reported a net loss of US$169.8 million. PV module shipments were 189.1MW, in the fourth quarter, a decrease of 5.9% from 200.9MW in prior quarter. Module shipments for 2011 reached 844.4MW, representing an increase of 5.8% from 797.9MW in 2010. Hanwha SolarOne guided 2012 shipments to be in the range of 1GW.
With 95% of module shipments in 2011 accounted for by a manufacturing group that is comprised of technologies specific to the c-Si community and thin film manufacturer, First Solar, for those seeking a disruptive alternative to compete with this dominance there are few options that command as much attention as CIGS.
