The solar industry supply chain’s jitters continued this week after polysilicon prices hit another high, driving silicon wafer prices further upward too.
Solar polysilicon, wafer and cell prices have all risen once again in the past week as demand continued to outstrip supply, with COVID-19 lockdowns in China continuing to disrupt the value chain.
Recent solar wafer and cell price increases from both LONGi Solar and Tongwei, which have seen prices rise by between 5.6 – 7.7%, have underscored heightened volatility in the solar supply chain.
LONGi has increased its wafer prices for the first time in nearly two months with the industry braced for continued high prices throughout the rest of the year.
Canadian Solar has tweaked its planned capacity expansions for this year, stripping back module assembly capacity expansion to instead produce more solar wafers and cells as the industry continues to recalibrate following months of supply chain volatility.
Trina Solar has bolstered its solar wafer supply line with the signing of a 1.2 billion wafer deal with Zhonguan Semiconductor, valued at RMB6.5 billion (US$990 million).
Capital expenditure (capex) from solar PV manufacturers is set to decline during the first half of 2017, as the industry adjusts to the excess of new capacity having come online during 2015 and 2016, according to the latest findings in the PV Manufacturing & Technology Quarterly report, released July 2016.
Despite claims by the company and automatic acceptance by the mainstream media, SunEdison’s position as the ‘world's largest renewable energy developer’ almost came to fruition in 2015.
