According to Johannes Bernreuter, head of Bernreuter Research the supply of polysilicon for the PV industry will continue to be constrained in 2021, while significant overcapacity is looming in 2022 and possibly intensify in 2023.
Meyer Burger Technology has agreed a settlement with Swiss headquartered PV manufacturer, EcoSolifer over a 2015 on heterojunction (HJ) solar cell line contract that will result in a CHF 1.97 million (US$2.22 million) loss for Mayer Burger.
Module manufacturer Seraphim is to invest in a 750MW module assembly facility in Vietnam to expand its global production footprint and serve US market.
With module suppliers currently seeking to hit annual shipment volume guidance for 2020, and many announcing ambitious expansion plans for 2021 and beyond, the sector is seeing a shift now in terms of module supply to global utility-scale sites.
Leading ‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JinkoSolar set a new quarterly module shipment record in the third quarter of 2020, reaching over 5G of shipments.
‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Q CELLS has become the first PV manufacturer to pass TÜV Rheinland’s new ‘Quality Controlled PV’ certification that equates to an extended stress test program based on IEC TS 63209.
Solar cell manufacturer Runergy has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with equipment provider Shenzhen SC in a bid to add 30GW of mono PERC and 5GW heterojunction cell capacity to its lines.
‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Canadian Solar has stopped tweaking manufacturing capacity expansion plans and guided major plans for 2021 that encompass ingot, wafer, solar cell and module assembly.
There may not be a ‘Green Deal’ planned in China but plans are in the making for a resurgence in solar installations as part of the forthcoming 14th Five-Year-Plan (2020-2025).
The PV industry is on track for strong growth in 2020, despite 10 months of the year being shrouded in uncertainty and perennial pessimism. And while almost all in the sector have been lamenting supposed softness in demand this year, attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, it turns out that the limiting factor to production and shipment volumes this year simply comes down to the supply of raw materials, namely polysilicon.
