China has become the largest manufacturing base for crystalline silicon modules in the world, and is becoming increasingly reliant on a domestic supply base. This article discusses the emergence of local supply chains and the strategic responses of global suppliers to this domestic competition. It proceeds to review a set of conclusions from four case studies of formulated material supply within China that can apply to supply chain participants in the PV industry, concluding with some strategic considerations for suppliers on the cusp of entering the Chinese market.
DuPont and Suntech Power Holdings announced that they had entered into a strategic agreement with an overall goal of augmenting the supply of PV materials and technologies in the global solar energy market. The companies agreement will specifically focus on technology advancements, supply chain optimization cost reduction initiatives and DuPont’s Tedlar polyvinyl fluoride film supply.
SunPower’s latest endeavours in California includes partnering with Orchard Supply Hardware, a chain of 89 hardware and garden retail stores located throughout the state, in order to reach a wider audience through information displays and at www.OSH.com.
Following the successful implementation of fluorine technology at Schüco TF’s 40MW Osterweddingen site, the company has signed a significant long-term supply contract with Linde Gases for the delivery of onsite fluorine (F2) to its new thin-film module mass production site in Großröhrsdorf, eastern Germany.
SunPower has said that after talks with its various Japanese-based suppliers, none have sustained major damage to their facilities, though “certain operations are currently disrupted due to infrastructure issues,” the company stated.
Recurrent Energy entered into an 180MW supply agreement with Celestica for the delivery of its crystalline-silicon PV modules to 19 of Recurrent’s Ontario-based solar power projects. The solar projects are part of the Ontario FIT program and will have the Celestica-manufactured solar panels delivered under a multiyear agreement. No financial details were revealed, although full production is expected by this summer.
JinkoSolar and Saint-Gobain Building Distribution Deutschland have signed a contract in which the Chinese PV manufacturer will supply the German company with 54MW of crystalline-silicon solar modules. The deal calls for Jinko to ship 4MW of panels to SGBDD this year, with the remaining 50MW to be supplied in 2011.
XeroCoat has chosen Air Liquide Electronics U.S. to supply the precision chemical delivery systems for XeroCoat’s turnkey antireflective coating platform for glassmakers and end-users in the solar manufacturing industry.
Hoku Materials has signed a silicon metal supply agreement with Polymet Alloys. The wholly owned subsidiary of Hoku Scientific said it plans to use the metallurgical-grade silicon for the production of trichlorosilane, a critical raw material in the manufacture of solar-grade polysilicon.
