Liam Stoker and Andy Colthorpe return for the August 2020 episode of the Solar Media podcast, reflecting on the biggest news stories from the global solar and energy storage ecosystems.
Major polysilicon producer Daqo New Energy expects polysilicon demand to outstrip supply for at least the next 18 months, due to the lack of new polysilicon capacity and strong demand as a growing number of ‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) members continue to add in-house monocrystalline ingot and wafer production.
Severe floods in southeastern China have forced the closure of a polysilicon facility owned by Tongwei, dealing yet another blow to the solar industry’s supply chain.
The announcement from Tongwei on 10 August disclosing new cell price rises was a surprise for the whole PV industry. Compared to its previous quote on 24 July, the price of poly cells rose by another 6 USD cents/W, with a further increase of 8 cents/W for 156.75mm, 158.75mm and 166mm mono cells.
Major polysilicon producer Wacker Chemie has reported polysilicon sales of €152.5 million in the second quarter of 2020, a new low, due to weak demand and lower utilisation rates, resulting in losses of €35 million for its polysilicon division.
China’s upstream sector witnessed growth in all major metrics throughout H1 2020 as the industry shrugged off any meaningful impact from the pandemic, figures released today by the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA) show.
China-based high-purity polysilicon producer Daqo New Energy has reported that in the first quarter of 2020, the average total production cost of polysilicon was reduced to US$5.86/kg, down from US$6.38/kg in the previous quarter, a new industry record.
Major polysilicon and wafer producer GCL-Poly Energy Holdings reduced losses in its Materials business segment in 2019 by continuing to reduce polysilicon production while boosting solar wafer capacity by 5GW.
Major polysilicon and merchant solar cell producer, Tongwei Group is adding 40,000MT of high-purity polysilicon at a cost of around RMB 4 billion (US$563 million), which is to result in its total polysilicon capacity reaching 155,000MT in 2021.
